A while back, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann revealed he had a four-hour early cut of his acclaimed biopic “Elvis”.
That naturally led to questions as to whether the extended version of the Austin Butler-led film could eventually see a release in some form, such as an HBO Max premiere.
In a new interview with Screen Rant, Luhrmann discussed the possibility and explained why such a cut wouldn’t be coming anytime soon – namely there’s extensive work required before any such version could be released:
“Not now, and not probably next year. But I don’t close my mind to the idea that in the future, there might be a way of exploring another [cut]. I’ve got to be really careful here, because the moment I put it out there… I tell you what, all my tweets are nothing but, ‘We want the four-hour version! We want the four-hour version!’ I think people are at my gates with pitchforks saying, ‘We want the four-hour version!’.
But I don’t close my mind to the idea that there would be an extended cut. Right now, with how long it’s stayed in the theaters and how well it’s done, it’s crossed the line. But it’s done so well on HBO Max over the weekend, so it’s about the parent company going,” Wow, it’s really worth spending the money.
Because it isn’t just like I’ve got it, and you just put it out there. Every minute in post-production, you have to do visual effects, grading, cutting, refining, and ADR sound. It’s not like it’s just sitting there finished, and I can just push a button and it comes out. You’d have to get back in and work on it. To do an extended cut, you’d be working on it for another four or six months something. I’m not closed to it, but not now. I’m a little bit on the tired side.”
The film’s theatrical release clocks in at a runtime of 2 hours and 39 minutes, but one scene that could potentially make the cut was an already talked about scene focusing on the famous meeting between President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley in 1970.
“Elvis” has been available on VOD and PVOD since August 9th and hit disc formats this week.
