We reported on the possibility of there being an extended director’s cut of Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT RISES on blu-ray/DVD, but it appears those rumors were just that. Sources in Nolan’s camp have confirmed that no such plan and no such cut exists. True to his word, Nolan shoots and edits in a tight fashion, so as to trim the fat early without having a bunch of leftover scenes to deal with (or money wasted). “I tend to try and weed things out on paper because it’s crazy expensive to shoot things that aren’t going to be in the film. It also takes up a lot of time and energy. Pretty much with all my films, there are very few deleted scenes, which always disappoints the DVD crowd,” Nolan told MTV earlier this summer.
Does that mean that there aren’t any deleted scenes? Not necessarily. Although there haven’t been any official announcements about the blu-ray release, let alone extra scenes on it, costume designer Lindy Hemming (who hadn’t seen the finished product at the time) told GQ about a scene that was shot focusing on Bane’s origin, which revealed more about his mask and costume.
“If you look at the film, unless they’ve cut it—and I’m sure they haven’t—there’s a whole early section for Tom Hardy where he’s fighting and being taunted by people,” Hemming said. “He’s got chains on him, and he’s standing on a wooden thing while people are attacking him. And in that scene, he’s wearing a much more ragged, primitive version of the mask,” said Hemming.
When informed that the scene was not in the finished film, Hemming said, “Well that’s an awful shame, but I suppose you have to cut things, I won’t elaborate on it too much, because it isn’t in the film, but there was another section that showed you why he had the mask and where it came from.”
There were no deleted scenes on the home video versions of BATMAN BEGINS or THE DARK KNIGHT, so it’s certainly possible THE DARK KNIGHT RISES will follow suit. However, one can always hope that things may change and we’ll see the above-mentioned scene. But, don’t hold your breath.
Expect an announcement for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES on blu-ray shortly, but in the meantime you can still catch it in most theaters.