Filmmaker Joe Carnahan (“Narc,” “The Grey“) is back with the action pic “Copshop” with a cast that includes seasoned action veterans such as Scottish actor Gerard Bulter and Frank Grillo. The film is opening this weekend, and Carnahan has been noticeably absent from the press. Why, you ask? The always candid Frank Grillo has explained that he’s not terribly happy with the final version of the film being released and taken to social media to air his displeasure, revealing that the movie coming out this weekend is not Carnahan’s final cut.
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Grillo is buddies with Carnahan; they most recently worked together on the delightful “Final Boss,” and the always blunt actor posted a heated statement on his Instagram dishing his frustration with the way this new version, cut by the producers, framed his performance. Grillo makes a case for a more nuanced, soulful performance that Carnahan cut is now lost.
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“Although I support all films me and my partner [Joe Carnahan] make, I’m not very pleased [with] how my performance was cut,” Grillo wrote about the editorial interference that hurt “Copshop.” “Without detail, I’ll say I gave a much more 3-dimensional take that was very colorful and very well planned out. Needless to say, that’s not what ended up in the film. As a result, I’m getting a bit beat up by critics. That makes me fucking mad. But there’s not a thing I can do except smile and wave. I will say this…The cut my boy, brother, and partner [Joe Carnahan] made had my performance intact. Unfortunately, our cut was passed over for this cut. That’s fine. It happens, ‘Copshop’ is a good movie and I’m very proud of what we did. But the day I take the brunt for someone else’s bullshit will be the day I quit acting. I love what I do and put my soul into every role. So, when I read critics go at me for a character that was castrated by someone other than my director I take great offense.”
It’s not uncommon for studios to tinker with director edits/cuts before the final release, sometimes those changes are made on good terms, and sometimes they are not. However, in this case, it is unclear why Carnahan’s version was changed or why, indicated by Grillo, he didn’t make those changes himself.
Circumstances are different on every film going through editing changes, so we’ll likely have to wait for Carnahan’s side of the story, but given Carnahan’s total absences from promoting the film, it doesn’t sound like the re-editing process was a terribly amicable situation.
Maybe we’ll see a groundswell online campaign to release the Carnahan cut of “Copshop.” A different cut on DVD, perhaps?
Update: Joe Carnahan has finally weighed in, thanking everyone in the cast, notably, however, not Gerard Butler.