Upon its initial release, 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven didn’t hold a candle to Ridley Scott’s other prominent works. Despite comprising a cast involving the likes of Edward Norton and Liam Neeson, the film failed to score high among critics, but the film’s failure had nothing to do with Scott.
Furthermore, Norton, who starred as King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem in the historical fiction, wanted to get rid of his name from the movie’s posters and trailers ahead of the film’s release. But the Fight Club Star’s decision to remain uncredited had nothing to do with the film’s initial quality.
Edward Norton Wanted to Add a Sense of Mystery to His Character
Playing the role of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, for the entire runtime, the actor spends his time in a silver mask to conceal his deteriorating health. But the mask didn’t hold the Glass Onion Star back from delivering a subtle and sensitive performance and his decision to not be credited in the posters and trailers only added a sense of mystery to it, which Norton aimed for.
Despite his impeccable performance in the role, the film wasn’t received well upon its release, however, according to Norton, the failure of the historical fiction laid on the shoulders of the studio executives.
Edward Norton Blamed the Studios for Diluting the Film Upon Its Release
Ridley Scott is quite synonymous with tinkering with his films after their release, and the seven different versions of Blade Runner only cement his fondness for director’s cuts. In the case of Kingdom of Heaven, a big chunk of the film was stripped upon its release, which took a toll on the final quality, which led to Scott crafting a director’s cut. Edward Norton, who was enticed to work alongside the Alien director, “felt bad” for Scott, expressing the film deserved to be 3 hours long from the get-go.
“I’ve never seen the director’s cut, how is it? I can only imagine that it’s better than what they ended up putting out. I felt bad for Ridley and [writer] Bill Monahan in particular. It was a really wonderful script, and it should have been a three-hour film. It was all the worst kind of corporate decision-making….I felt that any hope it had of being a good film was killed by corporate think.” Norton told The Guardian.
The director’s cut was indeed better than the one they put out in theatres, which is reasonable as it stands more in line with Scott’s vision. Standing at 194 minutes, the additional 50 minutes substantially improved the film’s quality.
Kingdom of Heaven is available to rent on Apple TV.
Source: The Guardian
