That terrible Dolittle ending was reportedly Robert Downey Jr.’s shitty idea—literally, according to an explosive new Hollywood Reporter story about what went wrong behind the scenes of 2020’s first major bomb. According to sources, it was Downey who had the idea to end the movie by having his main character reach deep into a constipated dragon’s bowels, but the THR story reveals that there were already lots of things plaguing Dolittle before that fateful third-act moment.
Dolittle, a retelling of the classic children’s book series about a whimsical doctor who could talk to animals, cost a staggering $175 million to make, and so far has only grossed a little over half of that. According to THR, experts are predicting that Universal is going to lose between $75 and $100 million on this movie. Although the studio started with high hopes this could be a tentpole franchise—a beloved IP with Downey in his first role since bowing out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—things started to look bleak in April of 2018 when the studio saw the first cut.
THR reports that it was clear pretty immediately that Dolittle director Stephen Gaghan, who is best known for gritty thrillers like Syriana, was perhaps the wrong person to helm this family-friendly kids movie. Early versions of the film were humorless, reports claim, and the special effects just weren’t there.
“People backed him thinking, ‘We’ll surround him with the best teams,’ but at a certain point it became clear this wasn’t working,” a source told THR. “And by then it was too late. And it was all hands on deck.”
Universal reportedly asked Seth Rogen for help, but he was too busy. They then turned to Chris McCay, who directed The Lego Batman Movie. McCay helped, including making a suggestion to change the boy character from Dolittle’s son to his apprentice, but then he abandoned ship to go direct The Tomorrow War, an upcoming film starring Chris Pratt.
Downey was present through all the production, however, and the THR story reveals that he had a big hand in shaping what Dolittle became. The actor and his wife Susan Downey were also producers, and their Team Downey production studio helped make the film. Downey had lots of ideas, and not all of them were great.
“When Iron Man tells you something, you listen to Iron Man,” one source recalled to THR.
The original ending for the movie “felt like a morose father-son story,” and hinged on Dolittle’s dead wife. That maybe wouldn’t have been a great vibe for what should’ve been a fun adventure with talking animals, but the final ending, which features Downey pulling a bagpipe out of a dragon’s ass, is inarguably worse. Downey reportedly came up with this idea at the 11th hour after the filmmakers had already worked out a new draft, one that was less somber but involved, presumably, fewer impacted colons.
Downey and his representatives declined to speak with THR to confirm this detail, which feels not entirely shocking.