Movies
‘Snowpiercer’: Bong Joon-ho vs. The Weinstein Company, Round 3
Back on August 6, reports hit that The Weinstein Company would be editing Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer by as much as 20 minutes. It looked like an ugly battle was about to ensue. In the second round of the bout, (Aug. 30) Joon-ho went running in the other direction stating that the new version wouldn’t be all that different.
And while South Korean director Bong Joon-ho made it abundantly clear that he is not happy with having his hit film Snowpiercer recut by The Weinstein Company, up until this point he hasn’t out his planted his foot firmly down in one direction or another.
Variety was on hand for the beginning of the third round, which kicked some dirt back in the face of the Weinsteins. Says the site, speaking both before and after a gala screening of the dark sci-fi drama at the Busan festival on Monday night, Bong made a point of calling out to any North Americans, Brits and Australians to let them know that this would be only chance to see the film as he intended it to be watched. OUCH.
While Bong’s English-language picture now has firm release dates in France (October), Taiwan and Japan (February), he said that the final cut of the film in English-speaking territories lies with The Weinstein Company. “We are still in discussions about the cut, but it is clear that this is the only director’s cut you will be able to see,” Bong said.
Bong did not provide details of his differences with TWC and understatedly said from the stage that the version for English-language release would be “a little bit different,” but sources close to the director say that privately he is furious. He has been quoted in other media as saying that up to 20 minutes are to be cut.
The film was a surprise and substantial hit in Bong’s native Korea, where it was released on Aug. 1 and has so far gathered an audience of 9.8 million, or just shy of a quarter of nthe Korean population, for a gross of $61.5 million.
After pulling in $28 million at the worldwide box office this month, director (and star) Dev Patel’s critically acclaimed action-thriller Monkey Man is now available to watch at home.
You can rent Monkey Man for $19.99 or digitally purchase the film for $24.99!
Monkey Man is currently 88% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with Bloody Disgusting’s head critic Meagan Navarro awarding the film 4.5/5 stars in her review out of SXSW back in March.
Meagan raves, “While the violence onscreen is palpable and painful, it’s not just the exquisite fight choreography and thrilling action set pieces that set Monkey Man apart but also its political consciousness, unique narrative structure, and myth-making scale.”
“While Monkey Man pays tribute to all of the action genre’s greats, from the Indonesian action classics to Korean revenge cinema and even a John Wick joke or two, Dev Patel’s cultural spin and unique narrative structure leave behind all influences in the dust for new terrain,” Meagan’s review continues.
She adds, “Monkey Man presents Dev Patel as a new action hero, a tenacious underdog with a penetrating stare who bites, bludgeons, and stabs his way through bodies to gloriously bloody excess. More excitingly, the film introduces Patel as a strong visionary right out of the gate.”
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.
Monkey Man is produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.
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