Well, here’s some disappointing news. Despite the fact that there was roughly a half hour cut out of Star Wars: The Force Awakens before it hit theatres, it doesn’t look like director J.J. Abrams has any plans to release an extended cut of the film.
While speaking at the Television Critics Association panel for the upcoming Hulu miniseries 11.22.63, Abrams was asked about the deleted scenes and said that the longest cut of the film clocked in at almost three hours:
“I don’t know what the longest cut was. Probably, if it were with credits, close to two hours and 50 minutes was the first cut. There will likely be deleted scenes on the Blu-ray, but not an extended version.”
Of course, just because there won’t be an official extended cut, that doesn’t mean the deleted scenes won’t show up on the Blu-Ray release. Will all of them be included? Who knows, but it will certainly be interesting to see which ones Abrams and Disney decide to throw on there.
After all, we’ve heard about some of the deleted scenes already and most of them do sound quite interesting. We’ll have to wait and see which ones we end up getting, but we’re hopeful that the majority of them will be included on the Blu-ray for our viewing pleasure.
Elsewhere, aside from the film’s deleted scenes, Abrams also touched on The Force Awakens‘ Oscar campaign, stating that he’d like to see his cast and crew get nominated:
“I’m only hoping that there are certain people I know that deserve it desperately, and it would be wonderful if they got it. I feel like I have the gift of working on that film is such that I don’t need any further validation other than the movie being out there and people liking the movie, but there are people that I will be disappointed if they don’t get nominated.
If I mention 8 people, the 9th person will be like ‘thanks.’ But honestly, it feels obvious to me who deserves that kind of recognition. They might no even care. They may say ‘Oh please,’ but I saw how hard some of these artists work and they are very deserving.”
Lastly, the director addressed the incredible box office numbers that the film has been pulling in, apologizing to parents who have kids that have seen The Force Awakens 7-8 times already.
“Whatever the numbers are, I’m just so grateful that the movie is out there and it’s being well received… I’m grateful to anyone who has gone to see the movie, and when I hear anecdotally 7-8 times, I just want to apologize to I’m guessing their parents. No, I’m just very grateful and I can’t believe it’s done. It’s 2 years of very intense work by a lot of people. I’m so happy with the work that people did, even the people you don’t see in the movie, like the puppeteers, I watched them in 120 degree heat in Abu Dhabi bring BB-8 to life, and then we [CG] them out of the movie, and I’m just so happy people get to see what they did.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now playing in theatres everywhere. Tell us, were you hoping for an extended cut, or are you alright with just the deleted scenes? Sound off below and let us know.