'Babylon A.D.' Director Joins Critics of 'Babylon A.D.'
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Distribution, 20th Century Fox
It comes as little surprise whenever a studio decides to kindly remove a film from a director's hands -- the situation with Lionsgate's treatment of Punisher: War Zone still smells fishy from this end -- but while most filmmakers would proceed to bite their tongues and salvage their careers, Mathieu Kassovitz begs to differ on his own film, the Vin Diesel vehicle Babylon A.D., which opens this Friday in an all-too-familiar August dump situation (joining it on the marquee: alleged comedies Disaster Movie and College).
In an exclusive interview with AMC's sci-fi blog, Kassovitz admits that a troubled production and comprised final cut (at least in the States, although reviews from elsewhere aren't much kinder) are responsible for turning his adaptation of Maurice Georges Dantec's futuristic novel into "pure violence and stupidity... like a bad episode of '24'."
While the film hasn't been trimmed by something like seventy minutes (as previously reported and clarified), Fox has still managed to whittle down the American cut by about fifteen minutes, enough so to leave behind a choppier, more confusing film. He admits that, while he doesn't hate the film, he insists that "I had something much better in my hands but I just wasn't allowed to work" and then openly berates them for "just trying to get a PG-13 movie."
In cases like this and that of last August's similarly retooled The Invasion, I can't help but wonder what the studio suits were thinking when they said, "Let's hand the reins over to this European fellow," only to take issue with the final product. Can Babylon A.D. really not stand to run a mere fifteen minutes longer? Is this a film honestly clamoring for screens and show times this weekend?
Even if that's the case, Kassovitz' candor feels to me like the words of a man who'll keep on trucking and keep on making his films his way, even if the whole of Hollywood manages to lose his phone number from here on out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-26-2008 @ 3:58PM
Sam H. said...
This would be the second time in a row Kassovitz has been shafted by studio recuts (GOTHIKA was the last), and given his stature in Europe I doubt he'll rush to another Stateside production anytime soon. Which is fine; I'm looking forward to whatever he makes regardless of where the financing comes from.
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8-26-2008 @ 3:58PM
brian johnson said...
Fox, Fox, Fox... this and Watchmen too? Will you ever learn?
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9-04-2008 @ 8:17PM
Jake said...
I'm sorry -- is there a thing as a "bad episode of 24?" How dare they...
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8-26-2008 @ 10:35PM
Hal Masonberg said...
Good for you for speaking out, Mr. Kassovitz. As a writer/director myself who has spoken out against having a film he nurtured for eight years re-cut by a studio, I applaud your bravery and determination. Films are often taken away from their filmmakers and other creative talents behind the projects, but most choose to remain quiet in order to "save" their careers. However, there are many in this town (Hollywood) and elsewhere who do not see speaking out as a negative. In all honesty, are the people who would "blacklist" you really the people you would trust with your next film? Are they really the people you want to work with? We as filmmakers do have the power to stop this trend by simply deciding to make films elsewhere or insisting on final cut. Many will tell you this can't be done. But I assure you they are wrong. Especially in an age when filmmaking and distribution opportunities are starting to open up thanks to newer and cheaper technologies, thus allowing artists to have more control. Making the public aware that the films they are seeing are not the films made by the people who created them is a great place to start.
Many foreign directors long to work in Hollywood. Many discover that, though the budgets are bigger and the clout stronger, the films themselves are weaker. For myself, I've decided to make my next film in England where the sensibility seems to be somewhat different from what I've encountered in my 20 years in Hollywood. Leaving Hollywood to make films in Europe... Who would have thought?
I look forward to seeing films from you in the future that reflect your talent, passion and creativity and that you can proudly say are the films you set out to make. Otherwise we are not really true filmmakers, but simply hired hands. Which is fine, if that's your goal.
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