Filmmaker David Mackenzie’s (Hell or High Water) latest project, the Robert the Bruce biopic Outlaw King, received its premiere during the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and now Mackenzie has said that he’ll to cut 20 minutes from its running time in response to the mixed reception from audiences and critics.
“I could feel what the audience was like in the theater. I’m sensitive to the way they felt,” said Mackenzie, who revealed to Deadline that the cuts will include “some complete sequences” which he feels has no impact on the overall story. In total, the cuts will bring the film down from a 137 minutes running time to 117 minutes.
Outlaw King did grab a lot of headlines following its premiere – the majority of which focused on the news that Chris Pine goes full frontal in the film, and Mackenzie has revealed that Pine’s nude scene will remain in the final cut: “I can’t understand why people get worked about that, I made ten films and most of them had male frontal nudity; it’s a bathing scene and people do tend to get out of the bath without clothes.”
SEE ALSO: Read our ★★★★ review of Outlaw King here
The untold, true story of Robert The Bruce who transformed from defeated nobleman, to reluctant King, to outlaw hero over the course of an extraordinary year. Forced into battle in order to save his family, his people and his country from the oppressive English occupation of medieval Scotland, Robert seizes the Scottish crown and rallies a ragtag group of men to face off against the wrath of the world’s strongest army lead by the ferocious King Edward 1 and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales.
Outlaw King is set to arrive on Netflix on November 9th.
