Starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Mike Myers, ’54: The Director’s Cut’ has been re-edited to include 44 minutes of never before seen material, giving the film a new runtime of 106 minutes.
In the years after the theatrical cut’s release, a bootleg VHS version of the two-hour-long rough cut began circulating. Strong word of mouth and support led to New York LGBTQ film festival Outfest screening the rough cut to a sold-out crowd in 2008.[13] Christopher and his co-producer Jonathan King had been lobbying Miramax for years to allow them to remaster the director’s cut for DVD. In 2014, the filmmakers received the greenlight to make 54: The Director’s Cut from Zanne Devine, Miramax’s then-VP of production.[4] They completed the film in time for a screening in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015.[4][23] The 105 minute-long cut included 44 minutes of restored footage, with all but a few seconds of the studio-dictated re-shot footage jettisoned.[24]
The director’s cut has received a much more positive critical response,[25][26][27] and the film has a cult following among the gay community.[13] Of 54: The Director’s Cut, critic Louis Jordan wrote, “Driven by character and atmosphere rather than soapy plot, Christopher’s film is permeated by a melancholy that adds depth to the ecstatic party scenes. Mike Myers nails the pathos and charm behind Rubell’s luded-out lechery, while Phillippe’s measured performance, finally given space to breathe, is vulnerable, amoral, and sexy. There are no easy heroes or villains in this 54, only people looking for something they’ll likely never find.”[13]