Final cut privilege

occasions, only established and bankable directors are given such a privilege (such as Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, Peter Weir and M. Night Shyamalan).However, outside of the Hollywood studio system - in France, for example - directors whose reputations are built on artistic merit, as opposed to bankability, frequently have final cut on their films. In America some acclaimed, but not necessarily bankable directors, such as Woody Allen and Terrence Malick, also enjoy final cut.

Before a film is released, studios will usually make changes for commercial purposes, or to remove any controversial content. Sometimes such practices can cause conflict between the director and studio releasing the film (see "American History X" and "Brazil).

Other contractual agreements will still apply, though: A director commissioned for a film with a rating no higher than "R" (in the US) will still have to make sure to meet this agreement. This happened with "Eyes Wide Shut", which included an orgy scene that was shown in Europe, but would have given the film a higher "NC-17" rating in the US. For its US release, background actors were digitally added to obscure some sex acts to reach the contractually obliged R rating. Stanley Kubrick died before the film was released.

Related

*List of films recut by studio
*Alan Smithee
*Artistic control, the same term when applied to musicians