Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood may have been a critical smash, but it divided audience opinion. Criticism primarily came from the film’s ponderous pace, with the ‘action’ scenes punctuated by long sequences of Brad Pitt driving around an impeccably realized recreation of 1960s Hollywood. I really enjoyed these scenes, but I can definitely understand why some people find them incredibly dull. And with the film clocking in at 159 minutes, many argued that at least some of them could be cut for time.
All of which means that the announcement that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is being re-released this Friday with additional material could be greeted with some fatigue. The film’s return so soon after leaving cinemas is likely predicated on keeping attention on the movie as we head into awards season.
According to Deadline, there will be four new ‘never-before-seen scenes’ bookending the film and Sony’s President of Domestic Distribution had this to say about the pic:
“Audiences have shown tremendous support for this movie, and we look forward to offering them another opportunity to see the film as it’s meant to be seen – in theaters on the big screen – with more sights and sounds of the sixties from Quentin Tarantino as an added treat.”
Thanks for the ‘opportunity’ to give you more money Sony, but even as someone who really enjoyed the film, I’m definitely not in a hurry to sit through it again so soon. I’m also not a big fan of these extended versions of movies hitting cinemas near the end of a theatrical run. We saw it with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home and neither addition added much to the experience. And anyway, if these scenes were genuinely worthwhile, they’d have been added into the original cut. I wish they’d just keep this stuff back for home release, as expecting people to shell out for two cinema tickets to the same film just feels mercenary.
Tell us, though, are you in a rush to re-visit Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Let us know in the comments section below.
