Remember the buzzy whispers vague hum a few weeks ago about Harvey Weinstein allegedly insisting Tarantino trim 40 minutes from Inglourious Basterds? Today, Alex Billington at First Showing features a fucking fantastic slap-down delivered by Harvey, as quoted in GQ.
“Those stories are all untrue. There’s no fucking 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‚Ķ 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 eighteen months in post-production. Quentin Tarantino cuts a movie in six weeks? Come on, there’s shit on that cutting-room floor that’ll blow your brains out. I was telling Quentin the opposite‚Äî’You should put that shit back in the movie.’ There’s scenes with Brad Pitt and the Basterds, and I’m praying he puts that shit back in, ‚Äòcause it’s un-fucking-believably great. Listen‚Äîthis movie will be between two hours and twenty minutes and two hours and twenty-seven minutes. I don’t think it’s going to be shorter‚Äîit’s just a question of rearranging. I know he’s putting footage back into the movie. I know he’s got some cool shit that he didn’t get time to address.”