One of the most intriguing films that appeared on the festival circuit last year was Ned Benson’s directorial debut, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. When screened at Toronto last fall, two different versions were shown. Now, with the Cannes International Film Festival around the corner, it will be cut into a third version that will combine the two.
Eleanor Rigby stars Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy as a young couple whose relationship is deteriorating. Benson crafted two different cuts subtitled Him and Her, exploring the relationship from different perspectives. But, according to Deadline, Benson has re-edited the film again to create Them, which puts the two perspectives into one, neat two-hour film. That version will be screened at Cannes on May 17.
Benson and his producing partner, Cassandra Kulukundis, spoke with The Weinstein Company, which picked up the film after Toronto, about making a new cut to show in Cannes. The Them version will feature different scenes, with several others dropped to keep the running time down.
According to TheWrap, the three-hour, two-version cut will be screened at art house theaters this fall, but TWC still has to decide if Him and Her will be considered two films for the price of one or if audiences have to buy two tickets.
The Them cut will be released wide on Sept. 26.