Back in 1991 when Tom DiCillo‘s "Johnny Suede" hit theatres, Brad Pitt was only known as the good looking dude from "Thelma & Louise." He was only starting his ascension to become the megawatt star we know today, and the movie barely registered a blip on the radar, opening in one theatre before heading to home video where it would become a cult favorite. But DiCillo was never satisfied with the film’s theatrical cut, and now he’s been given a chance to showcase his preferred rendition.
In March, "Johnny Suede" quietly made its way to Netflix, but there was a problem — Miramax hadn’t cleared streaming rights. Understandably, DiCillo was upset. He engaged with Miramax and was allowed to re-edit the movie, dropping a voiceover added by Harvey Weinstein and snipping seven minutes from the movie, bringing it down to 90 minutes total. "It’s distilled and improves the film so much," DiCillo told THR. As for Harv, he has no hard feelings and credits DiCillo for finding Pitt before anybody knew about him (the actor was cast before "Thelma & Louise" was released).
"I love that movie. I didn’t discover Brad Pitt; Tom DiCillo did," Weinstein said, adding, "I’m looking forward to it."
The new cut of "Johnny Suede" will drop this month on Netflix.