CODA CONDUCT : ‘Pelican’ Gets a New Ending . . . Well, Not New, Just More

“The Pelican Brief” just got longer.

Three weeks from its Dec. 17 opening, director Alan J. Pakula decided his thriller needed a new ending. Not a different ending, kind of a second ending, said someone close to the movie, which co-stars Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.

A tweaking? A panic move? Warner Bros., the studio that’s produced the picture, won’t comment about the addition.

Certainly “The Pelican Brief” is in the spotlight. This is the first movie for Roberts, one of Hollywood’s biggest female box-office draws, in nearly two years, since “Hook,” “Sleeping With the Enemy” and “Dying Young” were released. Then there’s the advantage of it being the latest adaptation of a John Grisham bestseller (the movie rights went for $1.3 million) following on the heels of Paramount’s “The Firm.” That movie, starring Tom Cruise, was one of this year’s biggest blockbusters, racking up $158 million in domestic grosses to date.

Competition for moviegoers’ dollars is stiff this holiday season and “Pelican” will fight for audience attention along with TriStar’s “Philadelphia,” Disney’s “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” Columbia’s “Geronimo” and Paramount’s “Wayne’s World 2.” Another edge: “Pelican” will be the only thriller out there.

Still, director Pakula and the studio decided what the movie needed was that extra upbeat ending. So Roberts trooped up the coast with the rest of the crew the last Saturday in November to exclusive Montecito (outside Santa Barbara) for a day’s worth of filming.

The 90 seconds or so added extends the movie’s running time to approximately 140 minutes. “Call it a polish, a button, a coda,” said an individual who worked on the picture.

In the movie, Roberts plays a Tulane University law student who discovers through court documents why two Supreme Court justices were murdered. Throughout the story she is being pursued by shadowy figures with connections to highly placed government officials.