The good news: We will get to see Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi epic Snowpiercer in the U.S. The bad news: It’ll probably be butchered beyond recognition by the time it arrives.
The South Korean filmmaker’s future-set flick, focusing on class struggles and revolution among the last survivors on Earth riding a gigantic train, has received rave reviews since opening in South Korea for its nuanced character development and slow-burn pace.
Well, it looks like we’ll be losing both those things once it finally comes to this side of the globe. The Weinstein Company has picked up the U.S. distribution rights, but it’s being reported that they want to slice 20 minutes from the running time to make it more appealing to stateside audiences.
Translation: They think Joon-ho’s version is too “smart,” so they want to slice out a lot of that nuance to make a more straightforward action cut that is easier to follow. They’ll also, apparently, be adding a voiceover to catch you up on all those missing scenes so they can just jump right into the action.
Obviously, it’s never a good thing when a studio meddles in a film cut — especially when it's to the tune of 20 whopping minutes of content. Oh well, I suppose we can always hold out for the director’s cut to arrive on DVD someday. Hopefully.
Do you think the film would do better in the U.S. in its original form, or chopped down to a more standard action/sci-fi mold?
(Via Twitch Film)
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