Sony Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — Sony Pictures has relented — at least partially — on its plan to offer consumers “clean versions” of previously released movies.
Last week, Sony announced that it would make its cleaned-up broadcast TV or airline versions of 24 movies available to consumers who purchase films on various download and streaming sites. But that plan faced strong objections from some filmmakers and from the Directors Guild of America, reported Variety.
“Directors have the right to edit their feature films for every non-theatrical platform, plain and simple,” the Guild said, adding that releasing a cut made for one platform on another violates the Guild’s agreement with the studio.
Judd Apatow, producer of one movie on Sony’s list, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, had particularly not-clean words for the plan on Twitter, writing, “This is absolute bulls*** and @sony and @SonyPictures is gonna get hell for F****** with our movies. Shove the clean versions up your a****!”
On Wednesday, Sony announced a change in its plans, saying the studio won’t sell clean versions of the movies against directors’ wishes.
“Our directors are of paramount importance to us and we want to respect those relationships to the utmost,” Man Jit Singh, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment said in a statement to Variety on Wednesday. “We believed we had obtained approvals from the filmmakers involved for use of their previously supervised television versions as a value added extra on sales of the full version. But if any of them are unhappy or have reconsidered, we will discontinue it for their films.”
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