It would appear that people in Iowa and Oklahoma aren’t as dense as Harvey Weinstein would like to believe. Back in August it was announced that SNOWPIERCER, the long-awaited English language debut from Korean director Bong Joon Ho, was to be delayed and cut down by Harvey Weinstein. Since then we’ve heard very little news, with just an international trailer and new poster surfacing, but now there is some news as to why the film continues to be delayed. According to the films’ director, both cuts of the film have been screened to American audiences, with the original cut of the film testing higher than the butchered Weinstein version. Speaking to Twitch, Bong Joon Ho said:
It’s still going on. Some aspects are a little bit exaggerated. Some people misunderstood that there already exists a North American version with 20 minutes cut out. But that kind of version doesn’t exist. Officially the negotiation is still going on, and I’m trying my best to keep my own version. And also the CJ people (CJ Entertianment/Korean production company) are trying to confirm the release date, the marketing plan and many other things they are still negotiating. And the funny thing is once there did exist a 20-minute cut-out version, a Weinstein version of SNOWPIERCER, they had a screening of that version in New Jersey in July. Then CJ did another test screening of my original version in LA with a normal American audience, and with my version the response was much higher than the scores from the Weinstein version.
The clock is ticking on the release of this film, and it seems as though they’ve missed out on a strong summer feature. Reviews have been very strong, and with stars such as Chris Evans starring, it makes you wonder what the hell Weinstein was thinking in the first place. The film will also soon be released on DVD in South Korea, which the majority of Bong fans will probably import. I was so looking forward to 2013 being the year of English language debuts from Korean directors, with both Kim Jee Woon’s THE LAST STAND and Park Chan Wook’s STOKER, entertaining and impressing me no end. Here’s hoping SNOWPIERCER gets the release it deserves and finds an audience too.
Source: Twitch
