Sergio Leone is considered by many to be one of cinema’s greatest directors. Although he wasn’t the most prolific artist, he made each film he shot count. However, his final film, the gangster tale Once Upon a Time in America, has had a checkered past. Upon its initial release, the film was cut drastically from 229 minutes to 139 in the US, making the story nearly incomprehensible. Years later, the 229 minute cut was released and was promptly reevaluated by critics. Now, Once Upon a Time in America is set to undergo another change as “Italy’s Bologna Cinemetheque L’Immagine Ritrovata lab is planning to digitally restore 40 minutes of footage to create a new cut of the film.” The new cut will hopefully make its debut at either the Venice or Cannes film festival next year.

This is certainly a welcome surprise to me. It’s not every day that you hear big Sergio Leone news, after all. I’ll confess that I’ve only seen this epic gangster film once and really should give it another watch. Even as lengthy as the film is currently, I remember there being some aspects that didn’t entirely make sense. Perhaps this new footage will help fill in some gaps. For those unfamiliar with the movie, it stars Robert De Niro and James Woods and tells the story of several New York gangsters from their childhood onward. If you’ve yet to see it, Once Upon a Time in America is currently on Netflix Instant Watch and I’d say it’s worth the long runtime. For those who have seen the film, what are your thoughts on an even longer version?