With the advent of DVDs, Blu-Rays and YouTube, extended cuts and deleted scenes are now part and parcel of any movie release.
After all, movies very often go through several cuts and scenes that might run too long for a cinema are perfect for a home release. However, 'Joker' director Todd Phillips has made it very, very clear that you won't be seeing any of his.
"I hate fucking extended cuts," Phillips told Collider in a recent interview. "I hate deleted scenes. They’re deleted for a reason. The movie that exists is exactly the movie I want it to be and I will never show a deleted scene.”
Despite Phillips' insistence that there won't be any deleted scenes, Joaquin Phoenix felt there were more than a few scenes that he loved - but understood why they were cut. "There was a scene that, that during the shoot we thought was one of the best scenes and we loved his behavior in the scene, and I’d always really liked the scene."
"And Todd told me and said, ‘We’re cutting that scene out.’ And at first I thought, like, ‘Wait a minute, what do you mean you cut that scene out?’ And then of course I saw it, and it was very obvious. It has to go."
It's a shame, really, as Phoenix's performances felt so lived in and so real that you get the sense it took him a long time to ramp up to where he was.
'Joker' is currently on release in Irish cinemas.
