Editing Director's cut (section)

== Extended cuts and special editions ==
(See [[Changes in Star Wars re-releases|Changes in ''Star Wars'' re-releases]] and ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial#20th anniversary version|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary]]'')

Separate to director's cuts are alternate cuts released as "special editions" or "extended cuts". These versions are often put together for home video for fans, and should not be confused with 'director's cuts'. For example, despite releasing extended versions of his ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' trilogy, [[Peter Jackson]] told IGN in 2019 that “the theatrical versions are the definitive versions, I regard the extended cuts as being a novelty for the fans that really want to see the extra material.”<ref name="rings" />

{{Quote box |quote="The traditional definition of the term 'Director's Cut' suggests the restoration of a director's original vision, free of any creative limitations. It suggests that the filmmaker has finally overcome the interference of heavy-handed studio executives, and that the film has been restored to its original, untampered form. Such is not the case with ''Alien'': The Director's Cut. It's a completely different beast."<ref name="quadrilogy">{{Cite AV media |people=[[Ridley Scott]] ([[Film director|Director]]) |date=December 2, 2003 |title=[[Alien Quadrilogy]] |medium=DVD booklet |publisher=[[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc |location=[[Los Angeles]]}}</ref> |source=—Ridley Scott |align=right |salign=right |width=25%}}
James Cameron has shared similar sentiments regarding the special editions of his films, "What I put into theaters is the Director's Cut. Nothing was cut that I didn't want cut. All the extra scenes we've added back in are just a bonus for the fans." Similar statements were made by Ridley Scott for the 2003 'director's cut' of ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.<ref name="quadrilogy"/>

Such alternate versions sometimes include changes to the special effects in addition to different editing, such as [[George Lucas]]'s ''[[Star Wars]]'' films, and [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''.

Extended or special editions can also apply to films that have been extended for television or cut out to fill time slots and long advertisement breaks, against the explicit wishes of the director, such as the TV versions of ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thisorthatedition.com/dune-1984/ |title=Dune (1984) - Theatrical or Extended? This or That Edition |date=2 May 2016 |website=thisorthatedition.com |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111170318/https://thisorthatedition.com/dune-1984/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' (1979), ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'' (1978) and the ''[[Harry Potter (films)|Harry Potter]]'' films.

=== Examples of alternate cuts  ===
''The Lord of the Rings'' film series directed by Peter Jackson saw an "Extended Edition" release for each of the three films ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (2001), ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers|The Two Towers]]'' (2002), and ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|The Return of the King]]'' (2003) featuring an additional 30 minutes, 47 minutes and 51 minutes respectively of new scenes, special effects and music alongside fan-club credits. These versions of the films were not Jackson's preferred edit, however, they were simply extended versions for fans to enjoy at home.<ref name="McCormick"/>

''[[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]]'' directed by [[Zack Snyder]] had an "Ultimate Edition," which added back 31 minutes of footage cut for the theatrical release and received an R rating, released digitally on 28 June 2016, and on Blu-ray on 19 July 2016.

The film ''[[Justice League (film)|Justice League]]'' which suffered a very troubled production, was begun by Snyder, who completed a pre-postproduction director's cut but had to step down before completing the project due to his daughter's death. [[Joss Whedon]] was hired by the films' distributor [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] to complete the film, which was however heavily re-shot, re-edited and released in 2017 with Snyder retaining the directorial credit, to negative reception from general audience, fans and critics alike and a box office failure. Following a global fan campaign to which the director and members of the cast and crew showed support, Snyder was allowed to return and complete the project the way he intended it and a 4-hour version of the film dubbed ''[[Zack Snyder's Justice League]]'' with some additionally shot scenes at the end was released on March 18, 2021, on [[HBO Max]] to more favorable reviews than the original version.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56415738 |title=Zack Snyder's Justice League: A 'vindication' of director's vision, says critics |work=BBC |date=16 March 2021 |author=n.a.}}</ref> Snyder originally teased a 214-minute cut of the film that was supposed to be the theatrical version released in 2017 if he did not step down from the project.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Colbert |first1=Stephen M. |title=Zack Snyder Teases MORE Justice League Reshoots With Batman and Superman |url=https://screenrant.com/zack-snyder-justice-league-additional-photography-reshoots/ |access-date=29 March 2022 |work=ScreenRant |agency=ScreenRant |date=29 February 2020}}</ref>
Snyder has also confirmed that his Netflix distributed sci-fi film ''[[Rebel Moon|Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire]]'' (2023) and its sequel ''[[Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver]]'' (2024) would receive [[Motion Picture Association film rating system#R|R-rated]] director's cuts with its new titles ''Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood'', and the sequel ''Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness'' (both 2024). The [[Motion Picture Association film rating system#PG-13|PG-13]] initial versions of those films having been critically panned.<ref>{{cite podcast |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iVrWITh8mA1WOa986kDan |title=Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire with Zack Snyder and Louis Leterrier (Ep. 464) |website=[[Spotify]] |publisher=The Director's Cut – A DGA Podcast |date=January 9, 2024 |access-date=January 16, 2024 |archive-date=January 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117003001/https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iVrWITh8mA1WOa986kDan |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood |url=https://www.filmratings.com/Search?filmTitle=Rebel+Moon+-+Chapter+One%3A+Chalice+Of+Blood&x=0&y=0 |access-date=1 May 2024 |website=[[FilmRatings.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rebel_moon_part_two_the_scargiver |title=Rebel Moon: Part Two - the Scargiver &#124; Rotten Tomatoes |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rebel_moon_part_1_a_child_of_fire |title=Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire &#124; Rotten Tomatoes |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=11 June 2024 |title=‘Rebel Moon’: Zack Snyder’s Director’s Cuts Set Late Summer Launch On Netflix |url=https://deadline.com/2024/06/rebel-moon-directors-cut-netflix-release-date-1235970038/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>

The film ''[[Caligula (film)|Caligula]]'' exists in at least 10 different officially released versions, ranging from a sub-90-minute television edit version of TV-14 (later TV-MA) for cable television to an unrated full pornographic version exceeding 3.5 hours. This is believed to be the largest amount of distinct versions of a single film. Among major studio films, the record is believed to be held by ''[[Blade Runner]]''; the magazine ''[[Video Watchdog]]'' counted no less than seven distinct versions in a 1993 issue, before director Ridley Scott later released a "Final Cut" in 2007 to acclaim from critics including [[Roger Ebert]] who included it on his great movies list,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-blade-runner-the-final-cut-1982 |title=Blade Runner: The Final Cut movie review (1982){{!}}Roger Ebert}}</ref> The release of ''Blade Runner: The Final Cut'' brings the supposed grand total to eight differing versions of ''Blade Runner''.

Upon its release on DVD and Blu-ray in 2019, ''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]'' featured an extended cut with seven minutes of additional footage. This is the first time since ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' that a [[Wizarding World]] film has had one.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sciencefiction.com/2019/01/18/fantastic-beasts-crimes-grindelwald-getting-extended-cut/ |title='Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald' Is Getting An Extended Cut - ScienceFiction.com |date=18 January 2019}}</ref>

An animated example of an extended cut without the approval of the director<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/dvd/john-kortys-twice-upon-a-time-coming-to-home-video-exclusive-109606.html |title=Exclusive: John Korty's 'Twice Upon A Time' Coming To Home Video |first=Amid |author-link=Amid Amidi |last=Amidi |date=26 February 2015 |website=Cartoon Brew}}</ref> was 1983's ''[[Twice Upon a Time (1983 film)|Twice Upon a Time]]'', which was extended to have more profanity (supervised by co-writer and producer [[Bill Couturié]]) as opposed to co-director [[John Korty]]'s original.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cineaste.com/spring2016/twice-upon-a-time |title=Twice Upon a Time |website=Cineaste Magazine}}</ref>

The [[Coen Brothers]]' ''[[Blood Simple]]'' is one of few examples that demonstrate director's cuts are not necessarily longer.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blood-simple-15th-anniversary-2000 |title=Blood Simple movie review & film summary (1985){{!}}Roger Ebert}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/2672/blood-simple-directors-cut/ |title=Blood Simple - DVD Talk}}</ref>