By Remember that time The Greatest Showman outperformed critics’ expectations and there were theatrical encores galore, and people loved it as it gave them hope and joy and song in their lives? Well, forget all that because it was an infinitely inferior film to A Star Is Born, which is now getting the justice it deserves in the form of a theatrical re-release in theaters with a dizzying 12 extra minutes of footage. That’s the equivalent of three new songs and a few added minutes to others. As we know from extended editions in the past, every second counts, and can be the difference between a breezy, edited interaction and a far more meaningful encounter between characters.
After being inexplicably snubbed at the Academy Awards last weekend (or rather, there was an explanation that nobody asked for, namely Green Book), I’m really pleased to hear that A Star is Born hasn’t been forgotten by those it tried so hard to please. After a spine-tingling performance from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga during Sunday’s ceremony, it’s only fitting that their talents are recognized properly.
Commissioned by Warner Bros. to celebrate the movie’s still-amazing win of a statuette for Best Original Song, the re-release will feature longer snippets of songs including ‘Alibi’ and ‘Black Eyes’. You know, those songs that you know all the words to because you’ve been listening to the soundtrack on your commute to work for months and can’t help but wonder why they were in the film for all of two seconds. Yes, those very songs will be featured with longer footage, meaning longer to let the pure magic of the film sink in. There will also be clips of Ally singing ‘Is That Alright?’ to Jackson during the wedding sequence, Jack singing ‘Too Far Gone’ in his studio, and the couple writing a song together entitled ‘Clover’.
There will be a one-week-only run in theaters from Friday 1 March, distributed across 1150 theaters across the US — a limited spread, but if there’s a will, there’s a way. The film grossed $211 million in the US and has made another $215 million internationally since its release in October, not to mention the fact that it has gone down a treat with critics and audiences alike.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, A Star Is Born is one of the finest movies of 2018. I thought Cooper was a phenomenal director and brought warmth and conviction to a story that could so easily have come across as just another remake. Instead, we were presented with a sensational and quietly powerful tale of two artists on very different trajectories, both self-reflexively embracing and indicting the world of Hollywood glamour. Although I’m nothing short of devastated that he lost out for Best Director and Best Actor and Gaga missed that sweet opportunity to become a fully-fledged Academy star in the form of Best Actress, perhaps this theatrical encore shows that we still live in a world where good things do happen and dreams really do come true.
A Star is Born Returning to Theaters with 12 Minutes of New Footage [Collider]
