Basterds back to the editing room? (updated!)

(We’ve updated this article, see paragraph below). As we’ve reported yesterday, the version of Inglourious Basterds shown at the Cannes Film Festival was missing the Maggie Cheung character and ran at a total of about 2.30. Contractually, as Variety reports, he’s allowed to deliver a two hour and 48 minutes cut, so he has enough wiggle room to put things back into the movie. Variety sais he’s supposed to go back to the editing room with the movie to add a scene, yet no word about what sort of scene(s) that might be. It is not uncommon for directors to “abuse” Cannes as a testing ground for their movies. After all, most movies screened there arrive without having been test-screened prior to the premiere. Question is will the final theatrical version of Inglourious Basterds be even shorter, snappier (some critics say there was a lull towards the end) and quicker, or will it be longer, thus carrying more weight and giving it maybe more depth? We don’t know, but we’ll keep you posted! Thanks to Rama’s Screen for the heads up.

UPDATE: Contrary to what we’ve reported earlier, the running time information might or might not be bogus depending on which angle you take at this story. Anonymous sources tell us that QT had in fact cut about 6 minutes from his original cut after notes from the studio resulting in what was screened in Cannes. He still plans test screenings in US theaters to arrive at a real theatrical cut (the aforementioned common practise in the movie business). We also know what the major cuts were that made the 6 minute difference. Aside from the Madam Mimeux (played by Maggie Cheung) parts, the entire backstory of Eli Roth’s character, which takes place in Boston but was just on location in Germany on the same semi-outside soundstage as the theater exteriors, had to bite the dust. A third moment is a scene right before the already famous La Louisianne scene, which might be a strong contender for being edited back into the film, as it constitutes a key moment between the Aldo, Archie and Bridget characters. Stay tuned

Btw, at minute 4:15 you’ll find a previously unseen scene with Melanie Laurent and Daniel Bruehl at the IB highlight video on the festival site. Tomorrow night at 11pm ET MTV will also feature an exclusive look behind-the-scenes. Stay tuned.

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Sebastian

Sebastian is the founder and owner of the Tarantino Archives and has been a fan and observer of QT for over two decades now, cherishing his work and the window in the the wider world of cinema his movies have opened up. Inspired as such, he runs the Spaghetti Western Database (SWDb), the Grindhouse Cinema Database (GCDb), Furious Cinema, its German sister Nischenkino and The Robert Rodriguez Archives. He lives in Berlin.

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