Extended Nightmare
What is it with extended cuts of movies recently? Director Ari Aster is releasing an extended cut of Midsommar (2019), there are hints that Tarantino will be releasing an extended version of the already lengthy Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Marvel is making a cash grab release of Spider-man: Far From Home (2019) with a measly four additional minutes of footage, and Avengers: Endgame (2019) added a commercially viable amount of footage and edged out Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time. While I haven’t seen any of these yet, alternate versions generally add little in the way of substance. I don’t see any of those were exceptions to that rule.
A quick clarification on definitions; the first release of a movie in theatres is the theatrical cut/original cut. Most movies only have this one version. Any alternate version of the movie released after (or before) a film’s original theatrical rule is referred to as an alternate cut. The term applies to director's cuts, extended cuts, and prerelease cuts.
Additional cuts for a movie are created for two reasons: the director wants to create a version of the film that better reflects their original vision and/or to provide the audience with additional content as a marketing strategy for the home releases. In the past, it was mostly movies with a cult following that got alternate versions because the small dedicated audience was there to make it commercially viable. What makes this year notable is there has been a shift in the business model and viability of alternate cuts.
Make no mistake, Marvel is not motivated by some desire to give the fans what they want (do fans even know what they want?). The reality is that giving the audience more of what they want is a nice byproduct of a good marketing strategy. Building the audience’s loyalty means that in the future when they release more content, people will reliably keep paying money to see it. Re-releasing a movie keeps it in the spotlight for a longer time, generates goodwill, and publicity. The four extra minutes Far From Home cut is particularly egregious, revealing Marvel’s façade. A year or two ago, those extra scenes would have quietly been put on the home video release and fans would watch them in the comfort of their own homes. This is perhaps the first time in the history of cinema something like this has happened. What changed?
Avengers: Endgame (2019) now with even more dull gray footage!
The sale of physical media has been going down in recent years with the rise of streaming services. Who has time for clunky physical discs and cases anymore? Disney is coming out with their streaming service (Disney+) in November, and Disney has always been the antithesis of the Criterion Collection when it comes to special features. I can’t imagine them adding deleted scenes to Disney+. Therefore, the marketing equation has changed.
The original equation was something like this: a dedicated fan base + a profitable physical media market = extended/director's cuts. Ridley Scott and Warner Bros. have released five versions of Blade Runner since it’s theatrical run back in 1982. While the film originally didn’t fare well at the box office, it’s cult following allowed Scott the financial ability to go back and edit the film again and again. Subsequent cuts brought in an additional 4 million dollars at the box office and multiple home video releases most likely allowed the film to recuperate its original production cost.
The extremely dedicated fan base of Blade Runner and other re-releases, like the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, allow studios to release and re-release countless permutations of the movies on home video. So what if someone already had one copy of the movie? That was only the DVD theatrical cut, now they’ve got to buy the extended cut special edition and then a few years later the Blu-ray extended edition with 5 minutes of never before seen material! It was the newness, the feeling of exclusivity and more of a good thing that kept people buying and rebuying the same movies just a little different.
I fully expect physical media releases from major studios will largely disappear in the next 20 years. Some smaller indie films are already forgoing the physical release because the market can’t justify it anymore.
Alternate cuts have always been a profit scheme (director’s cuts less so) but now that scheme is growing. Marvel, the most popular film franchise right now, wants everyone to see these alternate versions. These are alternate cuts for a mass audience. Far From Home, without the release of the extended cut, would’ve grossed around 1 million USD in its 9th weekend. Instead, it saw a 236% profit increase from the previous weekend and made approximately 5 million USD. Not bad for only four minutes of additional footage.
Midsommar (2019) directed by Ari Aster
This new strategy cuts out the clunky physical media releases and banks on theatres and streaming. Who wants to watch bonus features on a streaming platform? Deleted scenes? No. Extended edition? Yes. It’s an elegant solution to the declining physical media market. And while I don’t have access to all the numbers, I think it’s far more profitable. This isn’t limited to movies with dedicated massive fan bases like Marvel. The indie studio A24 quickly released an extended cut of their already profitable horror movie Midsommar. The profits went from around 40,000 USD in the 8th weekend, to 600,000 USD in the 9th. A total of 1.5 million USD was grossed during the extended-release. Most revealing, A24 doesn’t plan on releasing the cut on home video. Instead, it will only be available on Apple’s new streaming service. The path forward couldn’t be more apparent.
Streaming services are becoming increasingly involved with the alternate cut market. Netflix last year released an extended version of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, and there are rumors that they will do the same with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I expect studios will continue to release movies with extra footage before the end of their original theatrical runs and streaming services will increasingly be adding them to their libraries in “exclusive” ways.
Before we had small but dedicated fan bases willing to give their money for multiple releases. What’s changed is that the audiences have gotten larger and consistently pay for more content. Marvel, and other large fandom driven IPs, have also built a culture of repeat viewings. With physical releases no longer being favorable, the amount of people willing to watch the movie again and again in theatres and on streaming services has increased dramatically. Add in the marketed “exclusivity” of a limited release that both Marvel and Midsommar used, and the results were a few exceedingly profitable re-releases.
Studios essentially have two movies for the price of one. A24 negotiated a whole separate deal with Apple TV for the exclusive rights to the extended cut. Streaming both the theatrical and extended versions builds up the streaming library gives people the illusion of more choice and gives the fans what they want for a very low cost. I see no reason why Marvel and A24 won’t continue to use this strategy, and other studios, big and small, will join in. Future releases might even incorporate additional releases from the very beginning.
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (2019) a rare breed these days
As for artistic merit, these alternate cuts rarely add anything of substance to the movies. Almost every time the material was removed for a good reason, and adding it back in is a surface level addition. People want to see this stuff for the familiarity and comfort of getting more of what they love. A genuine director’s cut is a rare thing these days. The recently released Apocalypse Now: Final Cut is the first genuine director’s cut I’ve seen in a long time. While it is too long, it’s refreshingly genuine when compared to the other recent extended releases. If more of these re-releases were driven, at least in part, by some genuine artistic merit, I would give them a try. But I only see more of these marketing-driven alternate cut releases for the future, and I feel nothing but apathy.