Weinstein on Tarantino Cutting ‘Basterds’

“Read my lips: That is nuts. Please don’t even write that, it’s insanity.”

Asked by GQ magazine if the the stories about Quentin Tarantino being asked to cut 40 minutes out of the "Inglourious Basterds" were true, the Weinstein Company’s Harvey Weinstein responded:

"Those stories are all untrue. There’s no f—ing way. Here, read my lips: That is nuts. Please don’t even write that, it’s insanity. There’s not even a question of that. Whatever you’re reading, it’s like some insane blogger. There’s no truth to any of this.

 

"He’s not gonna cut. What he’s doing is just reorganizing some scenes. I mean, the guy had six weeks to cut his movie [for Cannes]; most guys take six months. Most guys take a year. When I worked with Martin [Scorsese], we’d do 18 months in post-production.

 

"Quentin Tarantino cuts a movie in six weeks? Come on, there’s s— on that cutting room floor that’ll blow your brains out. I was telling Quentin the opposite — ‘You should put that s— back in the movie.’ There’s scenes with Brad Pitt and the Basterds, and I’m praying he puts that s— back in, ‘cause it’s un-f—ing-believably great.

 

"Listen — this movie will be between two hours and 20 minutes and two hours and 27 minutes. I don’t think it’s going to be shorter — it’s just a question of rearranging. I know he’s putting footage back into the movie. I know he’s got some cool s— that he didn’t get time to address."

 

Read the rest of the interview …

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