<P> As Salt is being led out in chains, Winter grabs a pair of scissors, ready to attack her or to defend himself if necessary . She unexpectedly hooks her chain around Winter's neck and jumps over the stair railing, strangling him to death . On the helicopter ride to be interrogated, Peabody questions her . Salt explains that she killed Winter because he orchestrated the death of her husband, and promises to hunt down the remaining KA agents if freed . Peabody is convinced after receiving a text that Salt's fingerprints were found on the barge where the sleeper agents were killed, supporting her story . Salt is allowed to escape, jumping out of the helicopter into the river below and escaping into the woods . </P> <P> In an alternate ending, Salt arrives in disguise at the place in the former Soviet Union where she was trained as a child; she is then seen by the water as she watches Orlov drown, and the place blows up . </P> <P> The early development of the script began while Kurt Wimmer was doing interviews promoting Equilibrium . In a November 2002 interview, he discussed what scripts he was working on . He stated that "I have several scripts--foremost of which is one called The Far - Reaching Philosophy of Edwin A. Salt--kind of a high - action spy thriller ..." In another interview, Wimmer described the project as "very much about me and my wife". The plot incorporated many elements from Equilibrium, with an oppressive and paranoid political system of brainwashing that gets overthrown by one of its high - ranking members who rebels due to an emotional transformation . With the shortened title Edwin A. Salt, the script was sold to Columbia Pictures in January 2007 . By July 2007, the script had attracted the attention of Tom Cruise . </P> <P> Terry George was the first director to join the project, and he also did some revisions to the script, but he soon left the project . Peter Berg was the next director to consider, but he too, eventually dropped out for undisclosed reasons . A year later it was confirmed that Phillip Noyce would direct . Noyce was attracted to Salt for its espionage themes, which are present in most of his filmography, as well as the tension of a character who tries to prove his innocence yet also does what he was previously accused of . </P>

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