Editing Stop Making Sense (section)

==Release==
''Stop Making Sense'' premiered on April 24, 1984 as the closing night film of the [[San Francisco International Film Festival]].<ref>Walter V. Addiego, "The Film Festival: rare Chaplin to New Wave", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', March 14, 1984. Retrieved via Newspapers.com.</ref> Three months later, [[Filmex]] screened the film on its closing night.<ref>Sheila Benson, "Filmex Enters the Home Stretch", ''The Los Angeles Times'', July 18, 1984. Retrieved via Newspapers.com.</ref> The film entered commercial release in the United States on October 19, 1984.<ref name="tt0088178">{{cite Box Office Mojo |title=Stop Making Sense (1984) |url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0088178/ |access-date=February 16, 2024}}</ref>

When the film was first released on home video, the songs "Cities" and "Big Business"/"I Zimbra" were restored to the performance, thus forming what was dubbed the "special edition" of the film. For the 1999 re-release, these songs were no longer included in sequence with the rest of the footage. It and subsequent video and DVD releases have placed these songs after the film in an unrestored full-frame version.

The film has been released on [[Blu-ray Disc|Blu-ray]], [[widescreen]] DVD, VHS in both [[Pan and scan|fullscreen]] and [[widescreen]] versions, and [[LaserDisc]] (in Japan).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/19368/SM037-3323/Talking-Heads:-Stop-Making-Sense|title=LaserDisc Database - Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense [SM037-3323]|website=www.lddb.com}}</ref>

===2023 re-release===
[[File:Stop Making Sense 4K re-release poster.jpg|thumb|Poster for the 4K re-release of ''Stop Making Sense''.|334x334px]]
As part of the deal with the film's original distributor, Cinecom, the ownership of the rights to ''Stop Making Sense'' reverted to Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz, and Harrison shortly before the 40th anniversary of its original release. Hoping to commemorate the occasion, the group sought out potential companies to partner with on a re-release, eventually settling on [[A24]].<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite magazine |last1=Fear |first1=David |title=Big Suits, Lost Tapes, and Dancing Heads: Inside A24's Incredible 'Stop Making Sense' Restoration |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/stop-making-sense-talking-heads-restoration-david-byrne-a24-40th-anniversary-1234828312/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=13 April 2024 |date=27 September 2023}}</ref> A24 announced they had obtained the distribution rights in March 2023, making ''Stop Making Sense'' their second acquisition for re-release following ''[[Pi (film)|Pi]]'' (1998), and revealed plans to release a [[4K resolution|4K]] restoration in theaters the following September.<ref name="rollingstone" />

The studio sought out as much of the original materials as possible for the restoration, but learned after announcing the release that the original [[Negative (photography)|negative]] for the film was missing: prior distributors simply scanned preexisting screening prints of the film, including for the previous 1999 re-release. After an extensive search, the original negative for the film was found in an [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] film vault, despite MGM not having been involved in the making of the film.<ref name="rollingstone" /> Similarly, Eric Thorngren and Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison planned to create new [[Dolby Atmos]] sound mixes, initially using materials from the previous distributor and [[Rhino Entertainment|Rhino Records]]. However, they ran into difficulty when they discovered they did not have the original audience tracks: the original audio was stored in the library of [[Todd-AO]], which had since gone out of business and its building demolished. Eventually, it was discovered that Todd-AO's collection had been claimed by [[Sony]], who transported it to a warehouse in Kansas, where the original audio tracks were found in time to be included in the restoration.<ref name="rollingstone" /> Using these original tracks, as well as the post-production overdubs originally overseen by Demme to fix mistakes in the film's recording, Thorngren and Harrison painstakingly remastered the film's sound.<ref name="rollingstone" />

The studio premiered the new restoration on September 11, 2023, in 4K on [[IMAX]] at the [[2023 Toronto International Film Festival]], followed by a Q&A hosted by [[Spike Lee]] with Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison in attendance, reuniting the group for the first time since their induction into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2023/08/talking-heads-reunite-for-stop-making-sense-40th-anniversary-tiff-celebration-1235521195/ |title=Talking Heads To Reunite For 'Stop Making Sense' 40th Anniversary TIFF Celebration |first=Bruce |last=Haring |date=August 17, 2023 |website=Deadline}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/talking-heads-concert-film-toronto-1235567986/ |title=Talking Heads Concert Pic 'Stop Making Sense' to Screen at Toronto Film Festival |first=Etan |last=Vlessing |date=August 16, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spin.com/2023/08/talking-heads-reuniting-tiff-screening/ |title=Talking Heads Reuniting For 'Stop Making Sense' Screening In Toronto |date=August 16, 2023 |last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |work=Spin}}</ref> A24 also released a 4K Collector's Edition in May 2024. The home video release includes an extended cut overseen by the band that includes the performances of the "Cities" and "Big Business / I Zimbra" performances: the original negatives had been lost, but new edits were compiled using the restored footage from the cameras, including unseen footage. Jonathan Demme's own extended cut featuring the missing songs, originally released on VHS and LaserDisc, is also included.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Millman |first1=Zosha |title=You can buy A24's Stop Making Sense restoration on 4K, and nothing is better than that |url=https://www.polygon.com/24064113/a24-stop-making-sense-4k-dvd-how-where-buy |website=Polygon |access-date=7 February 2024 |date=7 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Stop Making Sense: Collector's Edition |url=https://shop.a24films.com/products/stop-making-sense-collectors-edition?variant=40138572431409 |website=A24 Shop |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>

The film entered first as an exclusive [[IMAX]] exhibition on September 22, 2023, before heading to conventional theaters on September 29, 2023, globally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imax.com/movies/stop-making-sense |title=Stop Making Sense |date=September 6, 2023 |website=imax.com}}</ref> [[Rhino Entertainment]] also released a new remaster of the [[Stop Making Sense (album)|film's soundtrack]], which includes the complete concert for the first time, on vinyl and digitally on August 18, 2023.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rubin |first=Rebecca |date=March 16, 2023 |title=A24 Releasing Remastered Version of Talking Heads Classic Concert Film 'Stop Making Sense' |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/a24-talking-heads-concert-film-stop-making-sense-1235556326/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325153159/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/a24-talking-heads-concert-film-stop-making-sense-1235556326/amp/ |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=March 16, 2023 |title=A24 Acquires Talking Heads 1984 Concert Film 'Stop Making Sense', Will Restore In 4K For Theatrical Release |url=https://deadline.com/2023/03/stop-making-sense-talking-heads-a24-rerelease-david-byrne-1235301150/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316170048/https://deadline.com/2023/03/stop-making-sense-talking-heads-a24-rerelease-david-byrne-1235301150/amp/ |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>