Whilst the Cannes and Toronto film festivals are known for dozens of world premieres, they're also a place where filmmakers occasionally test 'work in progress' prints of their work and will adjust, edit and potentially reshoot various bits of their films before releasing them out on an audience.
This year films like "The Brown Bunny" and "Mondovino" have seen a good half hour chopped from their runtimes at fests and as a result, negative reaction has been nullified and/or in some cases turned right around.
This past Toronto Film Festival was no different reports Variety. The arrival of Orlando Bloom for the first screening of his flick "Haven" may have drawn the biggest crowds on the red carpet outside, but the reception inside was much frostier with Producer Bob Yari indicating the pic probably will go back to the drawing board - "We may do some more work on the film, maybe with a domestic partner, and reintroduce it".
Niels Muller's "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" made its North American bow in Toronto with a cut that was 10 minutes shorter than the one that premiered at the Cannes. "The Libertine," which stars Johnny Depp and is arguably the most anticipated title of Toronto 2004, made its world premiere as a work-in-progress - previous films at the fest to be categorised like that include "8 Mile" and "The Statement".
Thanks to 'Casey'.
