Remember how Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, the short vignette within “New York, I Love You,” was unceremoniously dumped by the producers of the project, either because it was too long or not very good? (Depending on what rumor of the day you believe, though producers eventually vigorously defended its merits and just said it didn’t fit within the larger framework).
Well it’s called “The Vagabond Shows,” and has now found itself a home outside that omnibus project at the L.A. Shorts Film Fest. The Hollywood Reporter doesn’t say it’s the short from “New York, I Love You,” but it stars Kevin Bacon, also who was also supposed to be in the picture and it’s her “directorial debut,” which is exactly what her “New York, I Love You,” short was heralded as. Why the trades aren’t mentioning the connection… maybe her publicist wants to dissociate her client from the negative press of being excised from the compendium film.
Andrei Zvyagintsev’s segment starring Carla Gugino and Goran Visnjic, which was also edited out of the theatrical version that hits in October. Apparently both his and Johansson’s short will be available on the DVD whenever that eventually hits. Maybe Johansson shouldn’t feel so bad her short was cut from the film. The Risky Biz blog has already seen an unfinished cut of the film and said, “we’re not going to sugarcoat it: we didn’t like it.”[THR]