Was Eyes Wide Shut Stanley Kubrick’s Final Cut? Todd Field says no

Eyes Wide Shut was the final movie from acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick; in fact, he died of a heart attack just six days after screening the film for Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and executives at Warner Bros. Although the studio insisted that what was released was Kubrick’s final cut of the movie, others have argued that it wasn’t, as the famously meticulous director frequently continued to edit his films up until the last minute and sometimes beyond.

Did Kubrick Intend More Changes to Eyes Wide Shut?

While chatting with IndieWire, filmmaker Todd Field said that had Kubrick lived, Eyes Wide Shut would almost certainly have been different from the version released. “What we have is Stanley’s first cut,” he said. “He died six days after screening that cut for Tom, Nic, [and Warner Bros. chiefs] Bob [Daly] and Terry [Semel]. If Stanley’s post-production on past films is taken into even modest consideration, it’s clear that the film would be different. However, it would be foolish to try and speculate about what might have changed had Stanley lived to make it so.“

What Is Eyes Wide Shut About?

Eyes Wide Shut stars Cruise as a doctor who is shocked when his wife (Kidman) reveals thoughts of infidelity, prompting him to embark on a surreal night-long adventure, during which he memorably infiltrates a secret society holding a masked orgy. The film has now been released on 4K by the Criterion Collection, although it hasn’t been without controversy.

Todd Field’s Connection to Kubrick

Field played Nick Nightingale in Eyes Wide Shut and is seen as a Kubrick protégé, with the director encouraging Field to make In the Bedroom. Field recalled the last time he heard from Kubrick. “After we wrapped. He was upbeat and asked if I’d stop at Rank [Laboratory, where the negatives were processed] on my way back to London and deliver the dailies, and also that I send him the second draft of ‘In the Bedroom,’” he said. “He’d been generous to read the first, so I agreed but never sent it. I had another shoot coming up outside London in March ’99, and was supposed to see Stanley when Tom called to tell me he had died.“

What Changed in the Final Theatrical Cut?

Eyes Wide Shut hit theaters just three months after Kubrick’s death. It’s impossible to know precisely how the film might have evolved had he lived. Three months is plenty of time for a perfectionist like Kubrick to keep tweaking, but most of the remaining work involved sound mixing, dubbing, and other final touches that had already been discussed before he passed.

The one significant change made to the film didn’t come from Kubrick at all, but from Warner Bros., who altered the American cut to dodge an NC-17 rating. In the infamous orgy sequence, digital figures were inserted to block some of the more explicit activity. Critics tore the choice apart, and rightly so, as it looked awkward, but thankfully, the original unrated version is now readily available.

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