Editing Dances With Wolves (section)

==Extended version==
One year after the original [[theatrical release]] of ''Dances With Wolves'', a four-hour version of the film opened at select cinemas in London. This longer cut was titled ''Dances With Wolves: The Special Edition'', and it restored nearly an hour's worth of scenes that had been removed to keep the original film's running time under three hours.<ref>[http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1186797 Dances With Wolves (Comparison: Theatrical vs. Extended Version)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729024020/http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1186797 |date=July 29, 2014 }}. Movie-Censorship.com</ref> In a letter to British film reviewers, Kevin Costner and producer Jim Wilson addressed their reasons for presenting a longer version of the film:

{{blockquote|Why add another hour to a film that by most standards pushes the time limit of conventional movie making? The 52 additional minutes that represent this "new" version were difficult to cut in the first place, and ... the opportunity to introduce them to audiences is compelling.

We have received countless letters from people worldwide asking when or if a sequel would be made, so it seemed like a logical step to enhance our film with existing footage ... making an extended version is by no means to imply that the original ''Dances With Wolves'' was unfinished or incomplete; rather, it creates an opportunity for those who fell in love with the characters and the spectacle of the film to experience more of both.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gritten |first=David |title=Dances With Wolves - The ''Really'' Long Version |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-20-ca-409-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 20, 1991 |access-date=January 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331065448/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-20-ca-409-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The genesis of the four-hour version of the film was further explained in an article for ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' that appeared ten months after the premiere of the original film. "While the small screen has come to serve as a second chance for filmmakers who can't seem to let their babies go, Kevin Costner and his producing partner, Jim Wilson, hope that their newly completed version will hit theater screens first."

{{blockquote|"I spent seven months working on it", Wilson says of the expanded ''Wolves''. He's quick to defend the Oscar-winning version as "the best picture we had in us at the time", yet Wilson also says he's "ecstatic" over the recut. "It's a brand-new picture", he insists. "There's now more of a relationship between Kevin and Stands With A Fist, more with the wolf, more with the Indians—stuff that's integral all through the story."

Of course, exhibitors may not want a longer version of an already widely seen movie, but Wilson remains optimistic. "I don't think the time is now", he acknowledges, "but ideally, there is a point at which it would come out with an intermission, booked into the very best venues in America."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Daly |first=Steven |url=https://ew.com/article/1991/08/30/dances-wolves-directors-cut/ |title=''Dances With Wolves'': Director's cut |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=August 30, 1991 |access-date=November 22, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801080923/https://ew.com/article/1991/08/30/dances-wolves-directors-cut/ |archive-date=August 1, 2020}}</ref>}}

Costner later stated that he did not work on the creation of the ''Special Edition'' at all.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Willman |first=Chris |title=True Western |url=https://ew.com/article/2004/01/23/true-western/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=January 23, 2004 |access-date=2021-12-25 |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226024836/https://ew.com/article/2004/01/23/true-western/ |url-status=live }}</ref>