Director's cut. Whatever happened during production is irrelevant. Whether the director had final say in the editing room is the only criteria whether a cut is his or not. By definition!
If Lynch's chatroom comments are true, then this rumor could be an early April Fool's joke. Some folks like to hit ya with them early when you're off your guard.
I wonder if there are any lost scenes showing Paul and Chani falling for each other. The narrator telling us they fell in love over a brief montage just doesn't cut it from a storytelling POV. It's also regrettable that the Fremen, who in the novel beat the Sadakar warriors using their own...