If this recent news brief is true then there is no reason to respect Harvey Weinstein at all. Snowpiercer is one of the movies I have been looking forward to seeing for awhile. It is directed by Bong Joon-ho, the man who brought the world the awesome monster movie The Host. Well, the movie just broke every Korean record for its opening weekend box office totals and is rolling out across the world as we speak. Problem is that there is no U.S. release date yet. That is because – unfortunately for Snowpiercer – Harvey Weinstein is going to cut it to pieces.
According to IF.com, Harvey Weinstein wants to dumb the movie down so people in Iowa and Oklahoma can understand what is going on.
Yes, Harvey Weinstein believes people in Iowa and Oklahoma are stupid.
“TWC people have told Bong that their aim is to make sure the film ‘will be understood by audiences in Iowa … and Oklahoma,’” English writer and film festival programmer Tony Rayns told IF. “Leaving aside the issue of what Weinstein thinks of its audience, it seems to say the least anomalous that the rest of the English-speaking world has to be dragged down to the presumed level of American mid-west hicks.”
Snowpiercer is going to get ravaged by Harvey Weinstein. Rayns also said that Bong is not optimistic that U.S. audiences will see his film as intended, but hopes the U.K. and Australia will fight back.
And, before you think that it will just be basic cuts, rumor has it Harvey Weinstein plans to cut the two-hour Snowpiercer down about 20 minutes and remove much of the characterization. He also plans to add a narrative at the start and finish, so us dumb Okies will understand what we just saw.
Check out a snippet from the Hollywood Reporter’s review:
“…ambitious piece with a universally comprehensible theme and accessible aesthetics… a unique vision of a despairing present channelled through a dystopian future.”
Now, understand that we probably won’t get to see that in the theatrical release of the film in America. Hell, at least we can look forward to a Director’s Cut on Blu-ray, or maybe even get a copy from Korea and watch on a region-free player.
Source: IF.com
This baffles me. Even though Harvey has cut these kinds of foreign/indie pics in the past, I don’t understand what kind of audience he thinks he’s going to get for this. I’ve never thought SNOWPIERCER was going to make much headway into mainstream audiences. This is only going to upset and possibly keep away its intended audience (until the inevitable Director’s Cut Blu-ray or imported Korean version is made available). I hope he backtracks quickly.
It is hard to believe since Weinstein just produced a movie by an Oklahoma-born Pulitzer Prize winning writer (August Osage County)