The Road House Remake Post-Credits Scene Explained: Is [SPOILER] Alive?
Contains spoilers for "Road House"
The "Road House" remake is finally out on the small screen via Amazon's Prime Video. In the very literal sense, Jake Gyllenhaal packs quite the punch as the film's lead, joined by the likes of Daniela Melchior ("The Suicide Squad" and "Fast X"), Billy Magnussen ("Aladdin" and "The Many Saints of Newark"), and of course, former UFC Champion Conor McGregor, who wasn't afraid to go nude for his acting debut.
Gyllenhaal, playing Elwood Dalton, a former UFC middleweight, finds his match against McGregor's Knox, an absolute madman and mafia bad guy. The two beat the living crap out of each other throughout the film. During the movie's climax, Dalton takes a page from Nate Diaz's playbook and locks Knox in a rear-naked choke; their final showdown eventually ends with both men stabbing each other repeatedly with broken pieces of wood. Naturally, Dalton is the one left standing tall. At first, it seems like Knox is a complete goner. The dude got stabbed stabbed. However, a mid-credits scene shows that he's still alive and well, with the film closing its curtain to the sight of Knox throwing hands with some poor hospital staff.
From punching Gyllenhaal in the face to baring it all for the camera, McGregor's acting debut seems to have been the ultimate good time. Interestingly, however, according to the MMA star, the 2024 remake almost lacked one of its crucial components.
Road House being able to use the UFC brand wasn't always a certainty
A core component of Elwood Dalton's character is that he was a former professional MMA fighter and went as far as to compete in the UFC, the organization that's lauded as the pinnacle of combat sports. In the film, it's shown that his career was tarnished after killing a competitor inside the octagon. This made the real-life organization hesitant for its brand to be included in the film.
McGregor and Gyllenhaal touched on this obstacle during an interview with Sports Illustrated shortly before the film's release. "It was hit and miss at times, wasn't it? It was gonna be maybe XFC or something like that. But, 'cause obviously Dalton's history, the story is he's killed somebody and the UFC didn't really want that," the former UFC Champion explained. "Well, it was important from the very beginning that we have the UFC involved because obviously my character was written as a character who was an ex UFC fighter and it was just essential to it," Gyllenhaal said. Luckily, the promotion allowed itself to be included in the movie, going so far as to let Gyllenhaal and the "Road House" crew to film scenes at the T-Mobile Arena during UFC 285, an experience the Oscar-nominated actor lauded.
The 2024 remake of the Patrick Swayze classic is streaming now on Prime Video. Be sure to check out Looper's "Road House" review to see if Gyllenhaal was able to deliver a knockout performance.