DVD-like addition to ’28 Days’ in theaters

In an unusual marketing move to pump up the buzz surrounding its horror hit “28 Days Later,” Fox Searchlight will attach the film’s original, rather downbeat ending to all 1,400 prints now playing in theaters.

Although outtakes, filmmaker narration and alternate endings have become an expected part of DVD movie packages, Fox Searchlight says it is aware of no other instance in which alternate scenes were added to a film still in theatrical release.

The ending now in theaters was actually the film’s original scripted ending but was ditched by screenwriter Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle during production in favor of a darker coda. That grim ending was included in the first cut of the film and tested with preview audiences in theaters. But Boyle and his filmmaking team ultimately rejected the scene, set in a hospital, as simply too bleak.

“We felt we can’t do this to people. Because it was such a tough journey anyway,” Boyle said. The filmmakers went back and filmed the more upbeat ending they had originally written, which tested much better and is now the film’s final scene.

The darker ending, which already appears as a feature on the British DVD of the film, will appear beginning July 25 at the conclusion of the credits. Otherwise, projectionists would have to splice in the four minutes of footage or Searchlight would have had to strike new prints.

Searchlight contemplated re-releasing two versions of the film -- one with the upbeat ending, the other with the downer conclusion. But Motion Picture Assn. of America rules prevent two versions of the same film from playing at the same time.

Since its debut June 27, “28 Days Later” has been a critical and commercial hit, grossing nearly $30 million.