Editing Brazil (1985 film) (section)

==Release==
The film was produced by [[Arnon Milchan]]'s company [[Regency Enterprises|Embassy International Pictures]]. Gilliam's original cut of the film was 142 minutes long and ends on a dark note. This version was released in Europe and internationally by [[20th Century Fox]] without issue. However, US distribution was handled by [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], whose executives felt that the ending [[Test screening|tested]] poorly.<ref name="SRInt"/>

Universal chairman [[Sid Sheinberg]] insisted on a dramatic re-edit of the film to give it a happy ending, and suggested testing both versions to see which scored higher.<ref name="1987 Mathews" />  At one point, there were two editing teams working on the film, one without Gilliam's knowledge.<ref>{{cite book | last=Haley | first=Guy | title=Sci-Fi Chronicles: A Visual History of the Galaxy's Greatest Science Fiction |publisher=Aurum Press | year=2014 | isbn=978-1781313596 | location=London | pages=402}}</ref>

After a lengthy delay with no sign of the film being released, Gilliam took out a full-page ad in [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']] urging Sheinberg to release ''Brazil'' in its intended version. Sheinberg spoke publicly in interviews of his dispute with Gilliam, and ran his own advertisement in ''Daily Variety'' offering to sell the film.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carmentay |first1=Rudolph |title=Terry Gilliam's Brazil: A Film Director's Quest for Artistic Integrity in a Moral Rights Vacuum |journal=Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts |date=1989–1990 |volume=14 |page=91 |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/cjla14&page=91&collection=journals |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=18 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218091121/http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/cjla14&page=91&collection=journals |url-status=live|url-access=limited }}</ref>

Gilliam conducted private screenings of ''Brazil'' (without the studio's approval) for film schools and local critics. On the same night when Universal's award contender ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' premiered in New York, ''Brazil'' was awarded the awards for "Best Picture", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Director" at the [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Terry Gilliam's battle to release Brazil in US |publisher=BBC |date=1 December 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15982986 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925154438/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15982986 |url-status=live}}</ref> This prompted Universal to finally agree to release a modified 132-minute version supervised by Gilliam in 1985.<ref name="essay" /><ref name="1987 Mathews">{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Jack |title=The Battle of Brazil |year=1987 |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |isbn=0-517-56538-2}}</ref>