Legendary director Ridley Scott made splendid return with The Martian last year. His previous film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, made less-than-triumphant impression with audiences and critics back in 2014 but his Oscar nominated follow-up more than exceeded expectations. The Martian, based of the bestselling novel by Andy Weir, followed astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) and his team as they explored Mars. But soon after their landing, a huge storm hits and Watney gets separated from the team, and they make the tough decision to leave, presuming he’s been killed. The film received seven Academy Award nominations and totaled just over $630 million at the worldwide box office.
The home-release of the film’s theatrical cut hit shelves back in January, followed by the newly-standardized 4K Ultra HD in February. But 20th Century Fox just announced that there will be an extended cut of The Martian, featuring ten minutes of extra footage. Now, the semi-science-fiction adventure is already a pretty long film, clocking in right under 2.5 hours. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to fans of Scott, considering how the majority of his films from the past fifteen years have received an extended version in the home release.
Adding only ten extra minutes is an intriguing move by Scott, showing a little bit of restraint by the director, instead of overindulging in unnecessary sequences. The new footage could include more of Watney’s survival scenes, especially if it featured some of the grittier, perhaps less family-friendly aspects that living on a place like Mars entails. Besides the longer running time, the new release will also include an audio commentary by Ridley Scott, screenwriter Drew Goddard and author Andy Weir, which could have some juicy details about the production. Even though the film has already had many different versions released, this new one may be worth checking out.
The extended cut of The Martian will be released on Digital HD, DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on June 7, 2016.
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