Gothika director Mathieu Kassovitz' upcoming sci-fi epic Babylon A.D. will apparently have two versions released to the public. One will be the movie Kassovitz actually wants to make, which will clock in at about 1 hour, 45 minutes according to his recent estimates, starring Vin Diesel as a mercenary named Thoorop charged with guarding a woman who may help to produce a genetically-engineered Messiah. With a great supporting cast of people like Charlotte Rampling, Vincent Cassel and the great Michelle Yeoh, it could be a very compelling movie. Original talk from Yeoh herself said that the movie's director's cut would stretch to nearly two hours and forty minutes. This leaves us wondering a bit whether or not the revised 1:45 estimates are a bit of damage control, considering the studio trouble involved.
The trouble is that Kassovitz' version is only going to be released in mainland Europe. The version we'll get to see, as mandated by 20th Century Fox, runs a short 90 minutes. The 15 minute crop from the European version is significant, but not unheard of. But if the original 2:40 estimate is more accurate, chopping 70 minutes out of this opus would signal some pretty unpleasant things about the overall project. We'll see where the truth lies once it's released in late summer.
In the meantime, we can be amused by the idea that people are looking at Vin Diesel and saying "Hey, Thoorop."
Comments (1)
Ow. It sounds like this is going to get the same treatment as David Lynch's "Dune." This is right up my alley, but I may wait for the director's cut on DVD.
Posted by Chris Rachael Oseland | April 11, 2008 12:17 AM
Posted on April 11, 2008 00:17