This time the zombies… win?

According to John Horn of The Los Angeles Times , Danny Boyle’s zombie film “28 Days Later” is coming out Friday with a new ending. The change, A.O. Scott wrote in today’s edition of The New York Times , will entail a darker, four-minute sequence that begins with the words “But what if” being tacked on the current ending.

Horn’s story, which ran Wednesday, said that the new ending was what director Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland originally wanted. But they changed their minds after a test screening. “We felt we couldn’t do this to people,” Horn quoted Boyle as saying. “Because it was such a tough journey anyway.”

Fox Searchlight Pictures is adding the new ending to all 1,310 prints in circulation. “28 Days Later” is playing in Spokane at AMC’s River Park Square Cinemas and at Regal Cinemas’ Spokane Valley 12.

Not doubting Boyle, of course, but aesthetics can’t be the only reason for this change. There’s likely a marketing reason as well. For one thing, the darker ending comes as no real surprise, considering that it’s already on the DVD version of the film that was released May 19 in Britain .

In addition, it’s bound to give a boost to the film still playing in American theaters. So far, “28 Days Later” has made just over $33 million at the domestic box office . Compare that to, say, “Finding Nemo,” which made $70 million its opening weekend alone (and more than $300 million to date).

But you can ask Boyle all about that yourself. Just E-mail your questions to Foxsearchlight.com .