Copyright Variety
“Kill Bill” fans have some unfinished business. Lionsgate has released a trailer for its coming theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Whole Bloody Affair,” the four-hour cut (281 minutes with a 15 minute intermission) that combines “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and “Kill Bill Vol. 2″ into a single feature. The epic-length edition of the action classic had been vaulted for years until this coming rollout, which marks its first ever theatrical release. Lionsgate will put out “The Whole Bloody Affair” on Dec. 5, with plans to play all major markets in North America. The distribution plan also includes speciality screenings in 35mm and 70mm — prints that were likely newly struck for this release. When “The Whole Bloody Affair” played the Tarantino-owned Vista Theater in Los Angeles as an eventized limited run last summer, the theater projected his personal print made for the cut’s Cannes premiere in 2006, which included French subtitles and all. Showtimes also featured an intermission between the events of “Vol. 1” and “Vol. 2.” “Kill Bill” was originally conceived and filmed as a single feature, but was split into two installments to accommodate its expansive runtime. The parts were released six months apart, in October 2003 and April 2004, collectively grossing more than $330 million worldwide. Tarantino later premiered “The Whole Bloody Affair” two years later at Cannes. The edition wouldn’t screen again until 2011, when it played the director’s own New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. It was then vaulted again until the Vista run in July.
