As we reported months ago, The Last Jedi will be the longest Star Wars film yet, clocking in at two-and-a-half hours long. Rian Johnson has come out and stated that the original cut of the film was, in fact, “well over” three hours long. Despite this though, there will be no director’s cut. He views the current film as the “director’s cut”, but there will be some pretty awesome cut scenes on the Blu Ray.
“We had a long movie from the start. It was well over three hours, the first cut… It’s much better at two and a half [hours] than it was at over three, but it was a cut I had put together, is where we started. And it was over three hours.”
Referring to the Blu Ray release:
“A lot of really good stuff came out in the edit. I actually just reviewed the deleted scenes we’re gonna have on the Blu-ray. There’s a bunch of—some of my favorite scenes ended up having to come out just structurally… There’s a lot of really substantial, really good scenes. There’s a couple whole sequences actually that we lifted out. It’s weirdly—and this always happens—it’s like your babies you have to kill. It’s some of my favorite stuff from the movie.”
And, finally, Johnson talks about the possibility of a director’s cut of the film.
“I’m really not into [releasing an extended cut]. I feel like the cut is what it is because I feel like it’s the best version of the movie, so the ‘director’s cut’ is the movie that’s going out in theaters. All the deleted scenes, no matter how much I love them, they came out for a reason and it’s all for the greater good of the movie itself. You can watch the deleted scenes on their own, I think that’s the way to watch them, but the movie is definitely the best version of the movie I think.”
This always happens in films, and it’s great to hear that Johnson is doing what is best for the film first and foremost. Two-and-a-half hours is just right for a Star Wars film. The fact that we’re getting these deleted scenes at all is awesome, and I’m glad Johnson had the courage to cut some of his favorite sequences out.
The Last Jedi opens in just 10 days! Surprisingly, there have been no major leaks (unlike The Force Awakens). With the return of Luke Skywalker to the fray, we are sure to be in for a treat with Rian Johnson’s vision of Star Wars.