Ebaillargeon82 said:

CatBus said:

I'd say your definition of "original" is a bit weird--Star Wars was shown theatrically with three different mixes, all of which could be considered original. The order in which the mixes were completed is more of a production footnote. Does the movie Clue only have one original ending because it was the one completed first?

Well technically, yes. Because if Clue had an original ending completed first, it combines with the rest of the film to make the first completed version of the film. And being the first means being the original.

I don't think you understand that during its initial theatrical release, there were three different versions of Clue being played simultaneously. By design, each of the three versions had a different ending. So on the first day of release, you conceivably could have gone to one theater and seen the version with Ending A, then gone across town to another theater that same day and seen the version with Ending B, and end your day by visiting a theater out of town to watch the version with Ending C. All three versions of the movie were released at the same time, but technically, prior to release in an editing suite somewhere, the footage for one of the three endings happened to be finalized first.

Does it really make sense to say that the ending the editor happened to complete first is the "original" version, even though all three versions were intended for simultaneous release? Tying this back to Star Wars sound mixes, as hairy_hen explains a couple of posts above mine, multiple sound mixes were made at the same time to account for different theater sound systems. It doesn't mean that any one theatrical sound mix from 1977 is more "original" than another simply for getting through the mixing process first.