Director's cut

A director's cut is the version of a film that most closely reflects the director's own preferences, generally invoked when the director lacked final cut privilege over the theatrical release. Production companies, distributors and studios may alter a film to improve its commercial prospects, for instance by shortening its runtime for more daily screenings, reducing ambiguity, or removing content that would trigger a stricter rating. The term became a marketing device with the rise of home video in the early 1980s, signaling to consumers that a version represents the director's preferred edit and implying dissatisfaction with the original release, though the article notes some films are labeled director's cuts even when the director actually preferred the theatrical version, making the term function at times as pure marketing. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/