With its theatrical run now behind it, ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ is getting ready to come to Blu-ray. Of course, we all knew that a home video release was coming, but now that the official announcement is here, we know what to expect from it, and surprisingly, that includes an extended cut of the film.
Of course, extended cuts aren’t exactly new to the Wizarding World films, but they are something that we haven’t seen in quite some time. While later films have their share of deleted and extended material, the first two ‘Harry Potter’ films both got the full extended cut treatment for their home video releases. This was largely born of director Chris Columbus’s efforts to translate as much of the books to the screen as possible. Of course, as time went on, new directors took the helm and the books got longer, necessitating the sort of cutting and condensing that typically accompanies adaptations of such long-form works.
This case, of course, is a bit different, as the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films are based on original screenplays rather than pre-existing literary works. With that being the case, it’s hard to say what sort of material will be included in the extended cut of the film, let alone what sort of impact it might have on the finished product. What we do know is that the extended version will include a full seven minutes of additional material, boosting the runtime to 141 minutes
Also of note is that (according to text included with the cover art, which you can find below) the extended cut does not appear to be included on the disc. Rather, it seems that it is being distributed exclusively as a digital copy, with the physical copies of the film including only the theatrical cut. Which is just… odd, to say the least. Typically, packages like this – including, by way of example, Warner’s own ‘Batman v Superman‘ (Yes, I paid money for that – on purpose) – will include the theatrical and extended cuts on Blu-ray and the theatrical cut only on DVD. The digital copy in these cases is usually a tossup. Sometimes you get both cuts (as is, again, often the case with Warner releases), others you might only get one. It seems to vary according to arcane logics known only to film studios and their marketing departments.
In addition to the extended cut, the release will also include the following bonus features:
- J.K. Rowling: A World Revealed
- Wizards on Screen, Fans in Real Life
- Distinctly Dumbledore
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: The Return to Hogwarts
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: Newt’s Menagerie
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: Credence, Nagini and the Circus Arcanus
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: Paris and Place Cachée
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: Ministere des Affaires Magiques
- Unlocking Scene Secrets: Grindelwald’s Escape and the Ring of Fire
- Deleted Scenes
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ will be available digitally on February 15, 2019, with the blu-ray and DVD releases following on March 12.
