Alexandre Astier could release a long version of the first part of “Kaamelott”

While the second part of Kaamelott has already exceeded 500,000 cinema admissions, Alexandre Astier returned to First on the constraints he encountered for the genesis of the first film released in 2021. The director had to force himself to pull out the sword to reduce his feature film to 120 minutes.

“I did not feel particularly cramped in Kaamelott – First Partbut you should know that there is a little peculiarity with this film: the version that people saw was the special Covid version,” revealed the 51-year-old filmmaker. So we learn that the version had to be less than two hours long “because the theaters hadn’t worked for I don’t know how long, and they needed five screenings a day, because the whole industry was in trouble.”

A scene or two less

If he agreed to cut the film, thinking that “perhaps it was the right thing to do,” the man who has just become a grandfather for the first time is a little frustrated. “This version of KV1, there it is, it lacks a quarter of an hour, twenty minutes, compared to the version that I liked. » Alexandre Astier finds that, even if “you still understand the film”, this version amputated of “one or two scenes” is “a little indigestible”. And it annoys him, to the point of wanting to “take the time to fix it”.

“I don’t know if I was right or not to cut, I shot myself in the foot a bit, it leaves me with a bit of regret,” he admitted, before deciding: “So there will be another version…”. Something to delight the fans, who will however have to be patient before being entitled to a little discount. “In fact, it all depends on what it’s going to cost in post-production, because this version almost exists. I had it before Covid, but we have to finalize the special effects and all that.” The version is therefore “not far from ready”, but as a perfectionist, the creator of the cult series still wants to “go over it” and “reassemble” everything, just to be sure of his shot. “Ultimately, I would like to be able to replace the existing version with this one, even if it is difficult to move things when they are already in the pipeline,” he admitted.