Original Birdman Ending with Johnny Depp
 

From Screenrant:

"While on Jeff Goldsmith’s Q&A Podcast, Birdman co-writer Alex Dinelaris was on hand to talk about the original ending they had in mind for the film. As opposed to the official finale (which was somewhat ambiguous when it came to Riggan’s fate), the one initially discussed would have provided audiences with a clearer picture of what happened. After shooting himself on-stage, Riggan would be shown getting interviewed on a Charlie Rose-type show about the positive reception to his play. Then, things take a satirical turn thanks to Johnny Depp.

"Said Dinelaris: 'Then the camera prowled like it did the whole film, went back stage through the halls we’ve seen the whole time and we’d get to the dressing room where literally Johnny Depp would be sitting looking in the mirror and putting on his Riggan Thomson wig and then the poster of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be in the back. In Jack Sparrow’s voice [it would say], "What the f*** are we doing here, mate?" It was going to be the satire of the endless loop of that.'

"As for why this ending wasn’t used, Dinelaris revealed that the production team could neither get Depp nor the mock Pirates 5 poster, which led them to change things up."

The podcast is here and the answer begins at 1:14:46. The intent of the actual ending is also revealed.

Birdman director Iñárritu says in this podcast (at 42:00) that he tossed this ending sometime during production because he was never satisfied with it and felt the film required something different.

Re: Original Birdman Ending with Johnny Depp
 

I heard about this a while ago and, while I can see what they were going for, it sounds like it would have been pretty awful in execution.

Yeah, I think that ending would've felt too throw-away or out of step with the tone of the film but it may've been better then the actual ending which I think really bit it. :eek:

Re: Original Birdman Ending with Johnny Depp
 

I wasn't overwhelmed by the actual ending (or at least the denouement) but I figured the ambiguity suited the rest of the picture just fine, while the Johnny Depp ending felt like it was trying too hard to be clever.

I read that some feel the Depp ending wouldn't be apt because he's done a lot of good/serious work.

On the other hand, Depp's been making a serious descent into self-parody over the course of the past decade or so thanks to his collaborations with Tim Burton and also his incredibly hammy Jack Sparrow character, which have made him financially successful but have still turned him into a walking punchline. Just because he's a successful A-lister instead of a washed-up C-lister doesn't mean he's not also jaded and desperate for critical approval. The Birdman version of Johnny Depp would presumably see the chance to play Riggan in a biopic as his chance to be taken seriously again only for his Jack Sparrow persona to try to talk him out of it, thus providing another parallel with Riggan's own conflict between doing a Carver play and doing another Birdman movie, and thus the whole vicious cycle starts all over again...

Although this would have been very funny, I am really glad it didn't happen. It would've ruined the mood and meaning of the entire movie. It would not have flowed the same and just an awful way to end such a symbolic and meaningful film. It also makes you wonder that based on this ending that could've been, are all of the theories of what happened and the meaning of the movie meaningless?

Pretty much. In some ways Birdman didn't need an "ending" at all because it was a character study, one that most can relate to.