 Instead of Maria Braun committing suicide in a car accident she dies in a gas explosion, leaving it unclear whether she committed suicide or died accidentally.The producer of the film was Fassbinder's longtime collaborator Michael Fengler with his production company Albatros Filmproduktion.Fengler planned to start shooting the film in the first half of 1978, as Fassbinder's next project "Berlin Alexanderplatz" was scheduled for June 1978.