‘I said you’re making a really big mistake.’ Jodi Picoult hated the ending of the My Sister’s Keeper movie.

My Sister's Keeper, despite being considered one of the most emotional watches of all time, was still, a box office flop. 

While being praised for its ability to make you go through an entire box of tissues in a relatively short 210 minutes, director Nick Cassavetes' version of My Sister's Keeper was critically slammed for taking on one too many liberties of its own. 

This includes changing the entire ending of the story. 

In case you needed a refresher, the book behind the film was written by Jodi Picoult. In the novel, we come to know Kate who is a teenager with leukemia and her younger sister Anna, who was conceived entirely to be spare parts for her dying big sister. 

But one summer, everything changes when Anna decides she doesn't want to take part in medical treatments anymore to protect her sister, so she sues her parents for medical emancipation. 

Watch the trailer for My Sister's Keeper. Post continues after video. 

If the suit is successful, Kate will die but if it is not, Anna will be forced to undergo painful procedures and surgeries once again. 

The book grapples with a lot of the big issues. It is emotional and the final pages are where we learn that Anna only asks for emancipation at the request of her sister, Kate. 

Shortly after, the judge emancipates Anna from her parents but the book ends with her dying in a car accident. Her kidney is donated to Kate after all and years later, she is healthy but has lost her sister.

Basically, My Sister's Keeper will leave you an emotional wreck. 

However, the movie was hellbent on changing the ending — much to the chagrin of fans and Picoult herself. 

In the film spearheaded by Cassavetes, the director was insistent on Kate dying from cancer after all. In the final seconds, we see Anna with her family and happy. 

My Sister's Keeper. Image: Warnerbros.

It triggered fans of the novel everywhere. 

Many asked the necessary questions. 

Who would do this? 

Why would they do this? 

Why is THIS the ending of My Sister's Keeper? 

We went years without knowing the real answers but this year, Picoult answered all of our burning questions. 

The New York Times bestselling author took to TikTok in April 2023 to discuss the frequently asked questions about her popular novel and its less-popular film adaption. 

One of her clips, the one that goes viral, specifically answers the most burning question of all time: "How could you let them change the ending?" 

Her response was swift: "I didn't."

@jodipicoultbooks The answer you’ve been waiting for…why did they change the ending to the My Sister’s Keeper movie??? #jodipicoult #jodipicoultbooks #movieadaptations #movieadaptation #mysisterskeeper ♬ original sound - Jodi Picoult

Picoult went on to explain that not only was the decision completely out of her hands but she warned them of what they were doing. 

"The director — who is also the writer of the script — told me that he was gonna keep the ending," she said. 

"Then, I found out through a casting director that he had actually changed the ending of the script that he showed me..." she continued, admitting that the truth had upset her deeply to the point that she flew herself to him to discuss it. Unfortunately, "he pretty much threw [her] off the set." 

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She tried to convince the production company next that their ending was the wrong ending, but they refused to listen.

"You're making a really big mistake," she told them. "I have a lot of readers who really loved the ending of this book." 

Nevertheless, the film went ahead with the ending where Kate succumbs to her cancer after all. 

It does not bother Picoult as much as it once did, because she knows her novel will always be better than the film. 

"The book is always better than the movie," she said. "Especially when you're talking about My Sister's Keeper."

Feature Image: Everett Collection/TikTok @jodipicoultbooks.