So, that 160-minute cut of Babylon A.D.? Doesn’t exist. Never did, according to a recent blog post on the film’s Myspace page. In the words of a guy named Guyom:
“Babylon AD has never had a 2h40min cut. This rumor came from a joke Mathieu did in front of some journalists last september. Apparently some of them didn’t understand it… The approximate length of the film is 1h40min and this is what has been delivered to our partner, FOX. So I can reassure you, FOX is not chopping up the film and cutting 70min like I read on Rotten Tomatoes!“
Wait. You read news on Rotten Tomatoes? Huh.
He goes on to say that the PG-13 rating was part of the contract with Fox. The studio also has final cut in ‘their territories’ and Mathieu has final cut in Europe, meaning that the versions released in each will ‘naturally’ be different. Those differences could amount to 15 minutes, says Twitch. Probably no big deal if that’s a quarter hour of explosions, but if it’s fifteen minutes less of Diesel’s shiny skull, some of the women posting comments on said Myspace page are going to be pissed.