It’s early days at the moment but a director’s cut is now pending for Contracts, stuntman, actor and director Alex Chung’s feature debut which released on DVD and Blu-Ray through Indiecan in 2020. Chung broke the news in a brief teaser on Monday which you can view below, and to that end I reached out for a few more tidbits on the updated version.
There wasn’t much Chung could divulge to me privately except the following, stating he “wanted to see a cut of what it would have looked like before making the decision to turn it into a feature.” To note, that choice was made in the ten years Chung spent expanding the concept from a small series of action shorts leading up to what would have been a third short film had he chosen to stay the course.
Interestingly, Chung added “…The main thing is it’s shorter” when asked about the new director’s cut. The current version runs at a lean 75 minutes, so I’m curious as to what kind of changes Chung will make and what they’ll contribute to the film’s overall story and impact.
Winning ‘Best Action Film’ and ‘Best Fight Scene’ at the 2019 edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Chung stars and directs in Contracts which centers on a jaded hitman who teams up with a killer to eliminate a rogue assassin taking out his team one by one. Jermaine Carty, Margaryta Soldatova, Christena Gaunce, Dan Sanderson and Kyle Stewart also star.
Chung is also the founding creative of indie banner Foolhouse Films, host to a number of festival fave shorts spanning multiple genres, including Werewolf Assassin, Teenage Love, bodyswap thriller Inside, and more.
I’m also piqued by Chung’s artistic choice here for the teaser announcement. It’s only a few seconds and it’s rather, well…scenic? A certain “calm before the storm,” I suppose. Idunno. Chung’s the artist here and I’m just the messenger.
