Snowpiercer’s Original Cut May Get Released After All

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

snowpiercerIf the MPAA isn’t going to make a movie cut out some scenes to make the cut, you can be damned sure The Weinstein Company will have something to say about it. Since August, TWC and Korean director Bong Joon-ho have been at odds about what version of Snowpiercer will end up making its way to American theaters. A pretty severe 20-minute cut is at stake, and the closer it gets to showtime, the more TWC is bending down to Bong’s obvious vision. As a matter of fact, we might just get the original cut in the U.S. after all. Which would mean we’ve all bitched about a lot of stuff for nothing. We’re used to it, sure, but usually it’s for a purpose.

Bong was at a press conference in Argentina for the Mar del Plata Film Fest when he said (via THR), “I stayed in New York for two weeks before coming here to Mar del Plata, mostly because of this matter.” I can’t imagine why Harvey Weinstein continues to think certain directors’ visions aren’t the way to go, or how it would take two weeks for him to come to a proper decision about Snowpiercer, which has been critically acclaimed in its original form.

The visionary director continued:

And the good news is that after all the speculation and comments about that 20-minute cut, and considering the original version that was released in Korea and France also will be released in Japan and Hong Kong, we have been talking a lot about keeping the original cut for the U.S. release, so what I can say is…have faith.

Snowpiercer tells the story of a bullet train that holds all of humanity’s survivors after an ice age has overtaken the Earth. Class issues arise, as the train cars are separated by where you are in life. With an ensemble cast that includes Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Kang-ho Song, Ewen Bremner, Ah-sung Ko, Alison Pill, Octavia Spencer, and a train full of other actors, the question of why edits were even necessary was always an issue, but let’s just hope we don’t have to wait for a special edition Blu-ray to get the real version of this film.

While you might think Bong would want to jump into the Hollywood limelight, you’re probably wrong:

After I made The Host, I had a U.S. agent that brought me scripts, but so far I haven’t found one I would really like to work with. I’ve directed five films, and I have written all of them. I have received some interesting Hollywood scripts, but when I read them I say, ‘What a good script! I will definitely go see this when it opens!’

Sucks for Hollywood. We’ll take our Bong films straight to the lungs please. Time is ticking so slowly toward the release of the English graphic novel.