ST Is a TROS Director's Cut Possible?

I hope this is a thread-worthy topic, because even though it's mainly about TROS, it could also have larger implications for every SW film made under Disney. If it fits better somewhere else, I'd love for a kind mod to move it for me. But here it goes.

I recently watched Zack Snyder's Justice League with middling expectations, and I was absolutely blown away by the differences between it and the Joss Whedon theatrical cut. It was like night and day in a way I never expected: The stakes felt more dire, there was more character depth, more world building, better designs and CGI, stronger themes, better action, less Wonder Woman objectification, etc.

It's not a perfect film, and it's certainly not as concise as the Whedon cut, but before seeing it, I could never fathom a studio reshooting a movie to hell, removing insanely gorgeous setpieces, and destroying fantastic performances from the cast. The reception has been largely positive from both hardcore fans and years-long skeptics, and it feels...beautiful in a way that people who worked so hard on the original vision finally got to share that with the world after 4 years. All indicators so far also point to the launch of ZSJL being incredibly successful for HBO Max, setting Twitter on fire and crashing multiple streaming services at different points.

I feel like all of this has applied pressure to Lucasfilm and their handling of SW recently, to the point where Matt Martin has commented on it:


Is it possible there are fears or murmurs of a "JJ Cut" of TROS at LF? Is Disney desperate enough to go for it? Is it something fans would even want? Hard to say.

But we do know at the very least that multiple scenes for TROS were shot but deleted from the final cut; The most openly-admitted scene is the Kylo opening with the Oracle and Hux mentioned by Domnall Gleeson, Dominic Monaghan spoke of an extended final battle, there was a set photo with a Rey/Rose interaction, a longer version of Luke training Leia appeared in the TROS documentary, John Boyega has mentioned a final resolution between Finn and Rey along with photos of action scenes we never saw, Daisy has allegedly confirmed a version of Kylo's death with no kiss, John Williams wrote hours of unused score, and most recently the actor of Chewbacca lamented the loss of a torture scene between him and Kylo.

I feel like at the very least we should be allowed to see some of these deleted scenes, especially if the effects, editing, etc. are finished. It may not save the film, but if there is a cut of TROS that is JJ's coherent vision, I think it's owed to the people who worked on it to be allowed redemption in the way the JL cast & crew has.

ZSJL could be a paradigm shift where studios are more forthcoming about releasing bonus footage on streaming platforms to boost subscriber numbers, and Disney themselves had similar success with the D+ bonus content for Avengers: Endgame. IMO it would be nice to see the same for both TROS and Rogue One especially, and I'm curious what others think about this situation.

 

I agree, which is why I was kinda trying to emphasize the release of deleted scenes in TROS's case. With Endgame, there were fully-completed FX-heavy alternate scenes that Marvel released on D+, and I feel TROS had a similar production to that, so perhaps the same could be done by LF.

That said, in regards to Rogue One, I think there is very much a Snyder Cut situation there, where Gareth Edwards was sidelined and story elements were flipped entirely by the new director. While I'm very satisfied with the theatrical Rogue One, there were some dope scenes in the trailers that we never saw, and I'd love to know the context behind them.

 

I'm like 99% sure I remember reading an interview with JJ a long time ago where he said he doesn't really do director's cuts... that once he's done with a project, he's done. Of course, it is impossible to find the quote now because if you google JJ and directors cut you find a bunch of references to TROS. I don't think there was an entirely different cut, but I do think there might have been a more cohesive movie that was never allowed to come together. I don't know if the differences would fix many of my issues with the film, but I would be curious to see how it flowed.

In particular, Reylo is the major thing that has prevented me from watching TROS even a 2nd time. I just can't stomach it. It seems likely that the kiss was forced on the movie by LF, but I'm curious how their relationship was handled outside of that. Was "I wanted to hold your hand" in the original script or was it added in to help the later interactions flow better? (I hate that line almost as much as the kiss.) The whole Reylo thing is so weird because for 80% of the movie Rey is treating Kylo like you would expected her to based on their interactions in TFA, but then suddenly it's like a 180 and she's all about Ben.

And I do agree that it is downright strange that there isn't a single deleted scene released. I mean, even in a "perfect" production cycle like TLJ (lolol), they had deleted scenes. I can't even think of a major motion picture in recent history that didn't release at least a few deleted scenes. I don't want to go all conspiracy theory, but what in the world are they hiding? How would it hurt things to show some of these things? From what we know, there wasn't a whole lot that is super controversial. IDK. It's weird.

 

No Star wars don't do directors cuts. it does special editions. but not directors cuts.

 

I absolutely loved Zack Snyder's Justice League, I don't care what anyone says. It felt like an amazing comic miniseries. I love how fans created a movement to push for its release, I love that Zack Snyder got to release his vision of the film, and I'm happy that for once a company gave people what they want and asked for, not just calling them toxic and entitled. I suspect a longer cut of TROS could definitely help that film, but I think there's near zero demand for it and I don't think Lucasfilm even wants to revisit that time period/minefield.

 

Exactly my thoughts.

These two might go hand-in-hand. The only explanation for the lack of deleted scenes IMO is that they wanna maintain the facade of TROS being "the perfect ending they always envisioned with no possible alternatives". Thus far it looks like they'd rather let the ST die than admit any sort of failings on their part.

@mtt02263 Agreed. I think what hurts me most after ZSJL (and what spurred me to make this post) was the waste of talent and money. The idea that there was so much work done that the studio lied about for years, the media constantly gaslit the fans, the actors were depressed about it, and we never would've even known it was real if it weren't for all the people that fought for it to be released. Even the few seconds of extra footage and ILM shots from TROS/RO that Lucasfilm has openly released makes me want to see more.

 

No I can’t imagine so. From what we know, Snyder always has a strong idea for what he was trying to do with Justice League, and by the looks of it, the studio lost faith in the editing process, by insisting on something more ‘commercial’. Whereas TROS is the cumulation of a bad strategy, and bad ideas, over the course of 3 films (IMO). So whilst it may be possible to recut TROS to add more scenes, and invariably make it longer etc. it’s problems are much more structural, much more fundamental, and tied up in the previous two films as well.

 

If Disney responds to the fan outcry and Justice League success - it has to go all the way with George Lucas ST - not just one of their ST movies. Doesn't make sense to go there.

There aren't JJ fans that move the needle. They want the 40 years of SW fans - at least they do now. They didn't originally.

 

I don't think a JJ cut would mean a difference of tone or even a difference of content, but I guarantee he could deliver a difference in pacing to the film. TROS feels like it was meant to be a lot longer and the studio made JJ cut the length down so they could get one more screening in each day it was in theaters. I think if JJ had his way, the film would breath a bit more.

 

No doubt that an extended cut of the film would allow the film to have less pacing problems... however, I’d doubt that will make it a better film. More likely, without the diversionary tactic of cutting to the next frenetic scene, gaps in logic, plot inconsistencies etc. will become increasingly apparent.

 

I'd watch it. If theaters open, I'd even go see it on the big screen. But my expectations wouldn't be sky-high.

 

Making the movie longer wouldn't make Palpatine's return and Rey being a Palpatine and the Rey/Kylo love story less horrible.

 

It all depends on how much excised material still fits within the narrative of the theatrical cut. There may be certain scenes that are unusable, given how events of the story play out (like how the third act of Rogue One was heavily reworked). The first half could certainly use some help with its frantic pacing, but I think certain structural issues would remain.

But please, I just want to see Adam Driver talk with a big spider nestled inside of a giant baby head.

 

this!!

 

However, we also shouldn't be asking for assembly edits either. To me, the Snyder cut is an example of going too far in the opposite direction in terms of length, to the extent that the macro editing diminishes the urgency of the narrative. An extra 10-20 min to TROS would help, but I wouldn't want it much longer.

 

It is a real shame that this was cut, because not only is it a really nice fantasy environment, almost "Krull-like", but the Oracle itself sounded wonderfully whimsical and bizarre, which is what this iteration of Star Wars was probably missing.

 

Oh also a director's cut wouldn't change that the entire Skywalker/Solo family is killed off! I still can't believe they killed off the whole forking family!

 

I haven't watched the Snyder Cut. I don't particularly like Zack Snyder's movies, but I will probably watch JL eventually just to see what it's like in comparison to that Frankenstein's monster of a film that Joss Whedon put together. It seems like Snyder only worries about pacing within scenes or sequences. His movies as a whole never seem to build toward anything. They just sort of end.

As far as an extended cut of TROS...

Yeah, you're probably right. Breathing room might be a detriment to the film instead of helping it in any way.

 

I want a director's cut of every Disney film but by a different director. I want Lord and Miller's The Last Jedi. I want Rian Johnson's Solo. I want Gareth Edwards' The Rise of Skywalker. I want JJ Abrams' Rogue One. I want Ron Howard's The Force Awakens.

 

Abrams cut would be the exact same movie but with Jar Jar’s bones in the desert or someone burning a pod racer flag.

 

Also I'll take anything with more Pryde. He's maybe my favorite officer behind Tarkin.

 

The Rumour I heard the JJ's first cut was 4 hours and he cut it to 3 hours but KK said no way we don't do 3 hour Star Wars and was told to cut it right down so with the success of the Snyder Cut maybe one day when KK has left Lucas Film the new boss may indeed resurrect JJ's first or second cut.

 

To be clear, no first assembly of any film is ever a "directors cut" or intended for completion or public consumption. It's usually just all the scenes literally assembled together within weeks or less after production wraps. Even the Snyder cut wasn't the first assembly.

 

Plus it kinda completely screws with Canon.