Babylon A.D. to be Butchered for U.S. Release?

Babylon A.D.

Earlier this week we reported that Babylon A.D. was scheduled to hit theaters on February 29th, but is now being pushed back to August 29th 2008. I speculated that a six month push back probably means that Mathieu Kassovitz’s film has problems. Now the good guys at Twitch are reporting that “Europeans are getting a longer cut of the film in theaters in early 2008 while Fox, which holds rights in most non-European regions, have requested a significantly shorter version of the film.” Meanwhile, Allocine reports that the Euro version will run two hours and forty minutes.

Is two hours and forty minutes too long for a sci-fi action movie? Fox apparently thinks so. And will this film make any sense at 30+ minutes shorter? Call me pessimistic, but I’m guessing it won’t.

  • Eric
    Has a theater ever tried to release two different versions of the same movie at the same time? Like, a R for adults and their kids and NC-17 for more adults. Or one for people who want to see a 2 hour version or the 2 hour and 40 minute version?
  • The_E
    Well, looks like the torrent version will be what all the sci fans in the US watch. It will be out earlier due to it's release in Europe in early 2008. I don't understand this move. In the long run Fox is going to lose money here if they do this.
  • it's sad that the most consistent behavior in the entire film industry is the unrelenting stupidity of Fox.
    week after week, film after film we are subjected to some of the worst/most arbitrary decisions made at this level...
    I'm not saying that Babylon A.D. is a great film and shouldn't be touched etc...I have no idea, but it's clear that Fox doesn't think a long version will play in the US and Canada - which practically screams that it'll be the better version.
  • Jennifer
    I think it wouldn't really matter the time difference,
    if I can see both versions that would be awesome
    then make a sound judgement.
    Not just assume.
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