Finally: The Fly (1986) and The Fly II (1989) Special Editions are coming in Fall of 2005!

Personally, I see the worst-case scenario having only selected deleted material available out of the known excised footage.

I'm hopeful it'll be worth the wait.

Any new news???????? I have been thinking about purchasing the two movie set... But if the SE is still in the works I can wait...

R~

The Double Feature disc has served me well as a placeholder for the SE. Also, it's the only way to have The Fly II (1989) on DVD.

It's just taking a looooooonnnnggggg time for the SE to materialize. Hopefully, it'll be worth it.

It will be worth it. It will have deleted material. It will have lots of stuff. It won't please everyone because no DVD in history has pleased everyone - there's always people will complain about something.

Man, this thread is getting redundant. Let's post when there really is news-- and there *will* be news, as somewhere in the middle of this thread there is credible, positive information of why this disc is certain to happen the way both fans and the director wanted it to happen. It just hasn't been announced for release yet. When it finally is announced, then I'm sure this thread will revive strong. I am looking forward to this film as much as anyone here, but this empty pining is getting annoying.

Empty pining is all we've had to cling to! Empty pining is what has generated the interest in this release!

Still, ArthurMy's post is encouraging. Is that statement fact or opinion, ArthurMy?

It's fact - go back and read my earlier posts.

Oh, I've read your old posts. But the idea of deleted material being included wasn't made definitive in said posts. But then, why *else* would your friend be shown deleted scenes (other than to jog memories)? Thanks for the unofficial confirmation.

Considering this title is David Cronenberg’s only “Hollywood” picture in terms of its domestic box office gross.

I bet Mr. Prior made sure that every scrap left on the cutting room floor made its way into the set somehow.


I wonder how many discs will there be?

In my perfect world, there would be three picture discs: one for each Telepod (the two current models and the prototype).

Those sound a bit much like menus to me.

Alternately, there could be a picture disc of normal Brundle and one of Stage 6 Brundlefly. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Yes, that's what I felt - why would they be shown this deleted material if it wasn't to be included. It would make no sense to have them talk about it (which they did) in the supplements and then not have it on the DVD. So, I'm quite certain it will be there. Again, they were shown two deleted sequences, one of which I've already mentioned, and the other which I can't remember.

Tell that to David Lynch re: the new Wild at Heart SE. Cronenberg may be happy to allow interviewees to discuss deleted material without actually wanting the audience to see it.

DJ

Now that would just be a tease. Especially to know that the footage was dug out just to show to the people being interviewed, but not to be included. Bleh. We'll see...

Well, it's been a few more months, so I have to ask...any news/updates on this release????

So here's the latest. David's commentary has been done for a long time. As you'd expect from him, it's terrific. He felt he said everything he needed to say there, so he has (so far, I'm still bugging him) declined an on-camera interview. He's busy making new movies and prefers not to dwell overly on the past. Pretty understandable.

Reassembling the deleted reel from boxes of unmarked negative and without logs or notes has been, shall we say, challenging. The good news is Cronenberg has approved most of it. Not all of it, but the majority of it.

I've been pestering, needling and making a general nuissance of myself at Fox to let me produce this DVD since I started doing this job and now it's in the home stretch. More details will come when Fox is ready, but hopefully this will tide you over till then.

Cheers,

David

Thanks for the update, David. This is one of my very favorite horror movies, so obviously I'm just salivating at the prospect of a full-blown SE edition.

I'm sure we're all keeping our fingers crossed that this DVD gets the green-light soon, and that you're the one who gets to put the thing together!

Good to know you're so enthusiastic about this project. Eventually someone at Fox will catch your fever and the DVD will hit the shelves!

Thanks again.

Oh....my....!

Thankyouthankyouthankyou for the update, sir!

It has been long in coming!


"So here's the latest. David's commentary has been done for a long time. As you'd expect from him, it's terrific. He felt he said everything he needed to say there, so he has (so far, I'm still bugging him) declined an on-camera interview. He's busy making new movies and prefers not to dwell overly on the past. Pretty understandable."
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Cronenberg's commentaries are always spectacular. Even when he's mentioned The Fly in passing during commentaries on his other films, the tidbits of info have always been fascintaing.

And yes, I believe he's hard at work on A History of Violence at the moment.

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"Reassembling the deleted reel from boxes of unmarked negative and without logs or notes has been, shall we say, challenging. The good news is Cronenberg has approved most of it. Not all of it, but the majority of it."
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Fantastic news!

Still, I have to wonder what has and hasn't been approved... (The stop-motion epilogue may fit into the "unapproved" category, which would be too bad...but better to have the holy grail, the monkey-cat instead! We'll see...)

And I wonder where the leg-amputation scene fits into all this (as it was deemed unusuable due to that one, underlit shot).

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"I've been pestering, needling and making a general nuissance of myself at Fox to let me produce this DVD since I started doing this job and now it's in the home stretch. More details will come when Fox is ready, but hopefully this will tide you over till then.

Cheers,

David"

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Very, very good. I know it'll be worth the wait. Thanks!

A very small but very vocal fan base. I know you'll like it.

A quick clarification, Scott: the DVD already has the green light -- it has for some time (seems like ages, actually). I know Fox wanted it finished a long time ago, but they deserve a lot of credit for not rushing it and letting me take the extra time.

Cheers,

David

Aha, so it's YOUR fault that I don't have this DVD in my grubby little hands already!

Just joking, of course. I'm sure most would agree "better late than never" - especially if the delays are caused by a producer determined to deliver the best possible package.

Release it in March or release it in December; it will be mine. (Oh yes, it will...)

I have plenty of other DVDs to keep me busy till then! (Fight Club, Die Hard, Panic Room, Blade 2, etc.)

"A very small but very vocal fan base. I know you'll like it."
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Small and vocal is the way to go. Gotta love cult films (and filmmakers). It's like having this lovely little treasure all to yourself!

Although it surprises me that, what with the popularity/box office of The Fly when it first was released, coupled with the popularity of the whole Fly series (Now pushing 50 years old!), there hasn't been more vocal support for this DVD.

The online petition to get a Special Edition made (started by my pal Chris Foster in 2001 or so) has only gotten 430 signatures to date.

Since I first saw the film in its entirety in spring, 2000, I've been fighting an obsessive, uphill battle to stir up support for this DVD (with the help of Jacob, Chris and others).

Since the very beginning, I've felt a special connection with this film. From seeing the VHS cover at the local video store (and thinking the Telepod was made to resemble a mechanical beehive), to seeing a few minutes of the film on network tv in 1993 (appropriately enough, the "Plasma Pool" scene, which is creepy and sexy and funny all at once), to seeing the original, 1958 film on tv (with an ad for an airing of the remake afterward), to seeing the Fly portion of the Makeup show at Universal Studios, to finally seeing the Brundlefly action figure in Toyfare and reading a breakdown of the effects--and mention of the deleted scenes--in Men, Makeup and Monsters (which collected some old Fangoria articles) at my local library.

All this made me more and more interested in reading eveything I could find about the film in preparation for renting it. And how could I forget that first viewing? I deliberately saw it late at night, and went to bed stunned, and far from disappointed. Several weeks later, I bought the film on video, and began looking for old Fangorias and other materials, learning more about the film and the deleted scenes. And I haven't looked back since.

It's been a blast. I'm elated to see that this is *finally* coming together!!!!


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"A quick clarification, Scott: the DVD already has the green light -- it has for some time (seems like ages, actually). I know Fox wanted it finished a long time ago, but they deserve a lot of credit for not rushing it and letting me take the extra time."
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Yeah, I was gonna mention the fact that this was already greenlit (Peter Staddon first confirmed it here at HTF in spring/summer of '03--hence the outdated title of this thread...) in my last post, but it slipped my mind. Thanks.

My first experience with The Fly: it was 1986 (I was 15) and the movie was playing at the AMC Bucks County Mall theater. I knew it was a "hard R" from reading some reviews, but I also knew that my Dad was a hardcore sci-fi freak. So I somehow cajoled him into taking me to see the movie.

I remember walking out of the theater kind of numb, as if I'd just seen something truly and emotionally powerful - but I was too young to accurately describe that feeling. My Dad had kind of a smirk on his face when he saw how quiet the film had made me (I've never been a "quiet" sort of guy.)

"What did you think? Was it what you expected?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it was great, but I didn't expect it to be so...sad!"

I expected Dad to be a little irked at me for making him see a movie so extremely graphic, but I think he knew the movie was a real eye-opener for me: that sci-fi and horror films could be as moving, as touching and as wonderfully artistic as any serious drama or otherwise "legitimate" film.

The Fly was one of the very first movies to spark my lifelong love affair with the horror genre. It taught me that not all horror movies were low-rent and garish and gory just for gory's sake. They could also contain tragedy and romance and truly heartfelt emotion, too. (In addition to melting limbs and rampant self-mutilation, of course.)

I'll always be grateful to Mr. Cronenberg (and my Dad) for the insight I learned that day.

Plus the movie's just too damn brilliant to exist solely as one-half of a "double feature" DVD. This is, IMO, Cronenberg's masterpiece, and a film that truly deserves a swanky Special Edition treatment.

Pleased to know that this DVD is in such good hands.

"I expected Dad to be a little irked at me for making him see a movie so extremely graphic, but I think he knew the movie was a real eye-opener for me: that sci-fi and horror films could be as moving, as touching and as wonderfully artistic as any serious drama or otherwise "legitimate" film."
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Darn right. That's what Cronenberg excels at--using the genre as a cover to deal with deep, powerful issues.
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"The Fly was one of the very first movies to spark my lifelong love affair with the horror genre. It taught me that not all horror movies were low-rent and garish and gory just for gory's sake. They could also contain tragedy and romance and truly heartfelt emotion, too. (In addition to melting limbs and rampant self-mutilation, of course.)"
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I've always been more in the sci-fi vein myself, but this film in particular opened me up to horror (altthough, as Cronenberg has said, he dosn't like shoehorning his films into genres, as they contain elements from many genres).

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"Plus the movie's just too damn brilliant to exist solely as one-half of a "double feature" DVD. This is, IMO, Cronenberg's masterpiece, and a film that truly deserves a swanky Special Edition treatment.

Pleased to know that this DVD is in such good hands."
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Amen, sir!

I was fortunate enough to see one of the only rough cut screenings of The Fly in early '86 by essentially lying my way onto the Fox lot. The movie absolutely knocked me flat, but like most truly great works of art, it's only gotten better with age. One of the great perks of this job is the pinch-me-I'm-dreaming aspect of working with a film you've been in love with since the age of 17.

Cheers,

David

I saw The Fly when it was first on cable when I was maybe 8 or 9. It sacred the hell out of me and I loved it but I blame it for scarring me emotionally

The older I got, the more I wanted to see more Cronenberg's movies due to my introduction to his work on The Fly (Videodrome is still fave of mine).

Great news about the DVD. This one of the few titles left that I am truly excited about!

I hope you were able to interview cast and other crew members for the dvd? should be interesting to hear what others have to say about it?

JACOB

Wow, thanks for the info David. Maybe I can finally convince my wife to sit through the whole movie. Once it gets to the "gross" scenes she's done (although she has seen the ending).

Hi David

Thanks for keeping us updated about the progress