With the digital version having just been released and the Blu-ray edition only two weeks away from release, most would think X-Men: Days of Future Past receiving a Director's Cut so soon would be a little excessive. After all, a lot of people haven't even gotten their hands on the movie yet, why bother announcing something in the future if it'll just hurt sales now? The film's producer, Simon Kinberg, doesn't seem to have a problem with such a release schedule, and has already announced an extended cut of the film for release next year.
That being said, Kinberg did give fans one major incentive to buy the extended edition: the producer announced that the cut scenes involving Anna Paquin's Rogue will be restored into the film.
Anna Paquin had previously played Rogue in the original X-Men trilogy, though many fans believe the character to be underutilized. After serving as an introductory plot device in the first film, the role shrank with each subsequent film. Rogue wasn't seen again until X-Men: Days of Future Past, though the small cameo appearance was just a fraction of the original part.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly from late last year, director Bryan Singer said "Through the editing process, the sequence became extraneous. It's a really good sequence and it will probably end up on the DVD so people can see it. But like many things in the editing process, it was an embarrassment of riches and it was just one of the things that had to go. Unfortunately, it was the one and only sequence Anna Paquin was in, the Rogue character was in."
While Rogue did make a short appearance in the final cut of the film, Kinberg said that nearly 10 minutes of footage would be restored to the theatrical cut, far more than what Paquin was previously featured in.
While the upcoming Blu-ray edition will have special features (a gag reel, behind-the-scenes footage), it won't feature a re-cut version of the film. Kinberg stated that the 'Rogue Cut' due next year will not only feature Paquin's scenes as Rogue, but other cut scenes featuring various other characters.
X-Men: Days of Future Past was well-received by both critics and fans alike, and quickly became the highest-grossing entry in the franchise. The film was a major success for a franchise that swings wildly from great films (X-Men: First Class) to terrible ones (X-Men: The Last Stand).
The digital edition of X-Men: Days of Future Past is out now, with the Blu-ray version hitting store shelves on Oct. 14. The Director's Cut of the film has no release date scheduled other than 'Summer 2015.'
Photo: Gage Skidmore (cropped)
