Editing Don't Look Now (section)

== Release ==

=== Sex scene controversy ===
[[File:Don't Look Now love scene .ogg|thumb|thumbtime=13|upright=1.35|right|Sample from the love scene]]
''Don't Look Now'''s [[sex scene]] involving Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland caused considerable controversy before its release in 1973. British tabloid newspaper, the ''[[Daily Mail]]'', observed at the time that "one of the frankest love scenes ever to be filmed is likely to plunge lovely Julie Christie into the biggest censorship row since ''[[Last Tango in Paris]]''". The scene was unusually graphic for the period, including a rare depiction of [[cunnilingus]] in a mainstream film.{{sfn|Sanderson|1996|pp=21–23}}

Christie commented that "people didn't do scenes like that in those days", and that she found the scenes difficult to film: "There were no available examples, no role models ... I just went blank and Nic [Roeg] shouted instructions." The scene caused problems with censors on both sides of the Atlantic.  The American censor advised Nicolas Roeg explicitly, saying, "We cannot see humping. We cannot see the rise and fall between thighs." The scene's much celebrated fragmented style, in which scenes of the couple having [[sexual intercourse]] are intercut with scenes of the couple post-coitally getting dressed to go out to dinner, partly came about through Roeg's attempt to accommodate the concerns of the censors: "They scrutinised it and found absolutely nothing they could object to. If someone goes up, you cut and the next time you see them they're in a different position, you obviously fill in the gaps for yourself. But, technically speaking, there was no 'humping' in that scene." In the end, Roeg only cut nine frames from the sequence, and the film was awarded an [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|R rating]] in the United States. In Britain, the [[British Board of Film Censors]] judged the uncut version to be "tasteful and integral to the plot", and a scene in which Donald Sutherland's character can be clearly seen performing [[oral sex]] on Christie's character was permitted; it was given an [[X rating]]—an adults only certificate.{{sfn|Sanderson|1996|pp=21–23}}<ref name="Film4"/>

The sex scene remained controversial for some years after the film's release. The [[BBC]] cut it altogether when ''Don't Look Now'' premiered on UK television, causing a flood of complaints from viewers.{{sfn|Sanderson|1996|pp=76–78}}<ref name="Roeg (2008)"/> The intimacy of the scene led to rumours that Christie and Sutherland had [[unsimulated sex]] which have persisted for years and that outtakes from the scene were doing the rounds in screening rooms.<ref name="Morrison (2006)"/><ref name="Guthmann (1999)"/><ref name="Billson (2010)"/> [[Michael Deeley]], who oversaw the film's UK distribution, claimed on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' that [[Warren Beatty]] had flown to London and demanded that the sex scene—featuring then girlfriend Julie Christie—be cut from the film.<ref name="Clinton (2008)"/> The rumours were seemingly confirmed in 2011 by former ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' editor [[Peter Bart]], who was a [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] executive at the time. In his book '' Infamous Players: A Tale of Movies, the Mob, (and Sex)'', Bart says he was on set on the day the scene was filmed and could clearly see Sutherland's penis "moving in and out of" Christie. Bart reiterated Warren Beatty's discontent, noting that Beatty had contacted him to complain about what he perceived to be Roeg's exploitation of Christie, and insisting that he be allowed to help edit the film.{{sfn|Bart|2011|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FNouo7FETbYC&pg=PA92 92]–95}}<ref name="Fernandez (2011a)"/> Sutherland subsequently issued a statement through his publicist stating that the claims were not true, and that Bart did not witness the scene being filmed. Peter Katz, the film's producer, corroborated Sutherland's account that the sex was entirely simulated.<ref name="Fernandez (2011b)"/>

=== Theatrical releases ===
''Don't Look Now''—marketed as a "psychic thriller"<ref name="Ebert (1973)"/>—was released in London's [[West End theatre|West End]] on 16 October 1973.{{sfn|Sanderson|1996|p=81}}<ref name="French (2006)"/> It was released nationwide a few weeks later as the [[Feature film|main feature]] of a [[Double feature|double bill]];<ref name="French (2006)"/> ''[[The Wicker Man (1973 film)|The Wicker Man]]'' was its accompanying [[B feature]] and—like ''Don't Look Now''—went on to achieve great acclaim.<ref name="Jones (2006)"/>  The two films have thematic similarities, and both end with their protagonists being led to preordained fates by a 'child' they believe to be helping.<ref name="French (2006)"/>

The film was among the top British titles at the UK box-office in 1974, second only to ''[[Confessions of a Window Cleaner]]'', and ranking in the top twenty of the year overall.{{sfn|Harper|2011|loc=({{Google books|NTmrBgAAQBAJ|online copy|page=211}})}}{{sfn|Barber|2013|loc=({{Google books|3QWnY9K1R50C|online copy|pg=PT97}})}} Michael Deeley, who was managing director of [[British Lion Films]] at the time of the film's release, said the film's US reception was hurt by [[Paramount Pictures]] rushing the film into cinemas too early, due to the unexpected failure of ''[[Jonathan Livingston Seagull (film)|Jonathan Livingston Seagull]]'';{{sfn|Deeley|2009|pp=99–104}} despite its mismanaged distribution, Peter Bart—from his time at Paramount—recalls it performing "fairly well" at the box office.{{sfn|Bart|2011|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FNouo7FETbYC&pg=PA92 92]–95}} The film cost £566,501{{sfn|Chapman|2022|p=253}} (US$1.3 million){{sfn|Smith|2014|p=92}} to produce, and recouped most of its expenses before it was even released due to the sale of the US distribution rights to Paramount.{{sfn|Deeley|2009|pp=99–104}}

''Don't Look Now'' was chosen by the [[British Film Institute]] in 2000 as one of eight classic films from those that had begun to deteriorate to undergo restoration.<ref name="BBC (2000)"/> On completion of the restoration in 2001, the film was given another theatrical release.<ref name="Observer (2001)"/>

=== Home media ===
''Don't Look Now'' has been released on [[VHS]], [[Laserdisc]], [[DVD]], [[Blu-ray]] and [[Ultra HD Blu-ray]]. Extras include an introduction by film journalist [[Alan Jones (writer)|Alan Jones]], an audio commentary by director Nicolas Roeg, a retrospective documentary featurette ("Looking Back"), an extract from a 1980s documentary about Roeg ("Nothing is as it Seems"), and interviews with Donald Sutherland, composer Pino Donaggio ("Death in Venice"), scriptwriter Allan Scott, cinematographer Anthony Richmond and film director [[Danny Boyle]], as well as a "compressed" version of the film made by Boyle for a [[BAFTA]] tribute.<ref name="Home Cinema Choice"/><ref name="Optimum Releasing (2011)"/><ref name="Optimum Releasing (2010)"/>

A [[4K resolution|4K]] digital restoration (approved by Roeg) was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2015, by the [[Criterion Collection]]. In addition to the "Death in Venice" and "Looking Back" featurettes which accompanied earlier editions, there is a conversation between editor Graeme Clifford and film writer [[Bobbie O'Steen]], an essay by film critic [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] and a Q&A with Roeg at London's Ciné Lumière from 2003. Two new documentaries are also included: the first documentary, "Something Interesting", features interviews with Anthony Richmond, Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie and Allan Scott about the making of the film; the second, "Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film", features interviews with Danny Boyle and fellow film-maker [[Steven Soderbergh]] discussing Roeg's cinematic style.<ref name="Criterion Collection (2015)"/>

A new 4K restoration—supervised by cinematographer Anthony Richmond—was released by [[StudioCanal]] in the standard and Ultra HD Blu-ray formats in 2019, and given a limited theatrical release. The StudioCanal release was accompanied by several new extras: a featurette about the restoration process featuring cinematographer Anthony Richmond; "Pass the Warning: Taking A Look Back at Nic Roeg's Masterpiece", a documentary featuring [[Brad Bird]], [[Andrew Haigh]] and Danny Boyle discussing Nicolas Roeg's body of work and visual style; "A Kaleidoscope of Meaning: Color in Don't Look Now", in which Anthony Richmond, [[David Cronenberg]] and [[Sarah Street]] discuss the use of colour in ''Don't Look Now''.<ref name="Atanasov (2019)" /><ref name="Billington (2019)" />

In the week following Donald Sutherland's death in June 2024, ''Don't Look Now'' was the eighth most popular film on streaming in the United States, according to Reelgood streaming guide.<ref name="Northrup (2024)" /><ref name="Reelgood (2024)" />