Well, it looks like the protracted battle between media mogul Harvey Weinstein and South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho over Snowpiercer has now come to an end, with Joon-Ho emerging somewhat victorious.
For months now, the director has been fighting with The Weinstein Company about edits they wanted to make to the post-apocalyptic adventure epic. Weinstein reportedly wanted to cut the film down by a shocking 20 minutes and add voiceovers to certain scenes. In other words, he wanted to completely mess with Joon-Ho’s preferred cut, which made no sense as the original version earned excellent reviews and countless awards when it premiered overseas (and tested higher than Weinstein’s version at screenings). Weinstein’s beef originated from his belief that American audiences would not understand or like the lengthier, more complex version, and so it needed to be dumbed down a bit.
Now, however, the two parties have come to an agreement. Joon-Ho will get to keep his version of the film but instead of having a wide release, Snowpiercer will see a “platform release with a roll out.” Sure, that might not be as lucrative or attention-getting as a wide release, but at least Joon-Ho won’t see his film get chopped up due to Weinstein’s meddling.
Actually, the more I think about it, this may be the best possible outcome. Not only do we get to see the original cut of Snowpiercer, but even if it’s not playing in a theatre near you, you can still check it out on VOD. A wide release would have brought it more monetary success, to be certain, but now that the film will play on VOD, it will likely find the audience Joon-Ho always hoped it would.
Tell us, are you happy with the outcome of this heavily publicized fight? Let us know in the comments section below.