Frank Darabont didn’t want to show Andy and Red’s reunion at the end of the film. Apparently, he wanted the final scene to show Red getting on the bus ride and going off into the sunset, and presumably, in the direction of the field Andy talked about during the whole movie.
The execs at Castle Rock had a different point of view, that of pleasing audiences with a happy ending. The ending we got was a compromise. We see the two reunite on a beach, but from a distance.
A Name Coincidence
Great movies are full of weird coincidences. The film's cinematographer and academy award magnet, Roger Deakins, shares a similar name with Dekins, the first prison guard who asks Andy Dufresne for financial advice.
We know what you're thinking. The director did it on purpose as a nod to Deakins (with an "a"). Well, not really. Dekins (without an "a") was already in the Stephen King novel that the movie is based on. A crazy coincidence, or is it?
Andy Forgot One Small Detail
At Andy's trial at the beginning of the film, he tells the D.A. that he threw his pistol in the river. That is the dumbest move the character could have made, but then again, we wouldn't have had such a fantastic story otherwise.
A ballistics test on Andy's gun would have proved his innocence. His alleged victims were killed with another guy's gun, Elmo Batch's, to be precise.
Changing the Filming Location
As mentioned previously, the movie ends with Andy and Red reuniting on a beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, in 1966. At that time, Zihuatanejo was just a small fishing village, but 28 years later, when the movie was being shot, it had become a vibrant tourist destination and not a deserted paradise as we see in the film.
The beach that we see at the end of 'The Shawshank Redemption' is actually in the Virgin Islands.
The Famous Rock Wall
The rock wall where Andy leaves directions and money for Red was made by hand. The art department built it several months before filming and left it exposed to the elements to make it look real. It needed to look weather-beaten before shooting.
The wall stood for several years until it was sold, you guessed it, on eBay, by the farmer who owned the land. The tree is still there, although it was struck by lightning in 2011. Die-hard fans can still see parts of the wall on the grounds of the Ohio State Reformatory.