The X-Files Movie’s “Snyder Cut” Will Break a Major Hollywood Tradition (And One Sci-fi Masterpiece Did the Same Thing)
Director’s cuts have been around for decades, but there’s little doubt that, for many, when they think of a director’s cut, it’s the now famous “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, from 2021. As is the case with any director’s cut, this movie gave Snyder creative freedom to release the movie in a way that much more directly aligned with his vision for the project. Notably, when it came to the Snyder Cut, this meant a massive expansion of the original movie’s runtime. The original Justice League had a runtime of 2 hours even, whereas the Snyder Cut has an astonishing 4 hour and 2 minute total runtime—more than double the original.
It is for that reason (and because of the general Hollywood trend matching the Snyder Cut, even if the runtime difference isn’t always that extreme) that many have begun to associate director’s cuts with longer versions of the originally released cut of the movie. This would presumably include various deleted scenes and other concepts that were left on the cutting room floor in order to better adhere to more typical runtimes. However, that’s not always the case. In fact, a brand-new director’s cut of 2008’s The X-Files: I Want To Believe is making a surprising break from this tradition—and it’s not the first movie to ever do so.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn Will Be Shorter Than the Original Movie
The X-Files: I Want To Believe is getting a newly cut and newly named release, The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn, which will debut on Disney+ in just a few days, on Aug 14. Already, a trailer for the director’s cut has been released, and fans are eager to see what this new version of the movie has in store. However, one surprising aspect of the movie has already been confirmed. Specifically, according to The Hollywood Reporter, The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn will be shorter than its predecessor. Director Chris Carter explained, “Unlike most director’s cuts, I didn’t throw in everything but the kitchen sink…It’s actually shorter than the original. I hope it finds a wider audience, and I hope I give fans what they wanted.”
Although Carter did not go on to reveal spoilers for the new cut, he did elaborate, “It was the first screening for the studio in a little theater at 20th Century Fox. There was, let me call it, mild outrage that we had not delivered a PG-13 movie. It was a tense discussion, and we agreed to cut it down to the version that we’d apparently promised them. When we handed the new version over to the MPA, they said, ‘This isn’t a PG-13 movie.’ We cut it back a second time.”
“For me, trying to do a scary X-Files, this wasn’t what we had set out. What’s ironic is that the PG-13 standards for a movie were less permissive than the standards and practices for a television show at the time. So, my feeling is that the movie became a relationship heavy movie. The scares were second to that. I wanted to go back and put in the scares,” he added.
It’s fascinating that, in addition to making the movie scarier, Carter has actually cut down the overall runtime, but it makes sense in light of his comments. If the original cut was relationship heavy, in his opinion, then it’s likely that those aspects of the film will be cut out/down and replaced with some of the scarier content Carter originally wanted. Notably, Carter is also not alone in this approach to director’s cuts. Rather, Ridley Scott’s director’s cut of Blade Runner was also shorter (the original was 1 hour and 57 minutes, and Scott’s cut was one minute shorter) and removed a number of details, including the happy ending. With such a solid prior example, there is plenty of hope that this new cut of The X-Files will be a compelling one.
