14 DAY TRIAL // Scarlett Johansson, while admittedly one of the best actresses of our times, has had little luck with crossing over to directing so far. A segment of the movie/series “New York, I Love You” that she personally directed will go straight to DVD because it is not commercially viable, Wenn reports, via HollywoodRag.
“New York, I Love You,” inspired by the 2006 film “Paris Je T’Aime,” is a collaboration of many other stars. Among the actors who have helmed segments from it is also Natalie Portman, alongside newcomer to the field Scarlett. While the former actress’ piece was highly praised, Johansson’s was deemed too bad to be included and has been edited out. Fans will only be able to see it once the film is released on DVD, the report says.
Although dubbed “unwatchable” and “horrible,” producer Emmanuel Benbihy insists that this was not the reason why Scarlett’s segment was cut out, saying that it simply did not go with the rest of the film, being a black and white piece starring Kevin Bacon. It was, Benbihy says, too complicated for the audiences and did not go that well with the rest of the film, for which reason they had to edit it out altogether from the film.
“Scarlett presented me with an extremely compelling, albeit unconventional, narrative that appeared as though it would not necessarily conform to the overall approach of the entire collective.” Benhiby tells the media. “I was very much moved by her vision [but] after months of editing I had to admit that there were editorial decisions to be made in the interest of serving the overall narrative and composition that resulted in previously filmed scenes and footage not getting used.” the producer further explains.
While having a small segment taken out of a movie might not seem much, for Scarlett, this was the launching pad for a possible directorial career, it has been said. The star, currently working on “Iron Man 2,” has long voiced her intention of moving behind the camera for a change, a plan that seems to have been thwarted – at least temporarily – by this recent report.