Whenever a book gets adapted into a movie, you can pretty much guarantee that people will eventually start arguing over which version was superior. Sometimes significant changes are made before a story is deemed suitable for the big screen, which inevitably upsets the purists. However, in the case of the 1994 Tom Hanks dramedy Forrest Gump, many seem to agree that the alterations made by the filmmakers were for the better. And at the end of the day, one thing that can’t be debated is that a truly faithful adaptation of the original novel would’ve made for a very different experience for moviegoers.

To begin with, the Forrest in the book is 6’6” and weighs 240 pounds. He also has a tendency to curse like a sailor. That’s probably why the novel’s author, Winston Groom, was envisioning John Goodman for the lead role. Obviously, the film’s producers didn’t think those elements were necessary to include in their version, seeing as how everyone from Matthew Broderick to Bill Murray was in talks to play Forrest at some point or another.

The ‘Forrest Gump’ Book Was Much Wilder Than the Movie

But there were other major omissions on top of that. About midway through the book, Forrest ends up on a mission to Mars because the folks at NASA think he’s a mathematical genius. Accompanying him on this trip are Janet Fritch (the first female astronaut) and what’s supposed to be a female orangutan named Sue. Instead, Forrest and Janet get stuck with a violent male ape who wreaks havoc on the spaceship, causing it to crash-land in New Guinea.

From there, the trio is held captive by a tribe of cannibals and forced to farm cotton. During their stay, the tribe’s chief teaches Forrest to play chess and another tribesman has his way with Janet after luring her into a bush. By the time NASA arrives to rescue everybody, Janet chooses to stay with her new lover; the others are returned home safely. Following a brief stint as a wrestler, Forrest reunites with “Sue,” and together they start a successful shrimping operation.

We’ll go ahead and let you decide how the movie would’ve turned out with all that added into the mix.