I remember being very excited about seeing the movie "54" when it was released into theaters eight years ago. It starred Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, Breckin Meyer and an unrecognizable Mike Myers as Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell. The movie, written and directed by Mark Christopher, chronicled the rise and fall of the famed NYC hotspot of the 1970s where the likes of Liza Minneli, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, and other A-listers could be seen partying night after night (a far more interesting crowd than this Britney-Paris-Lohan nonsense we seem to be consumed with currently.
I found the movie to be, at 93 minutes, underwhelming - like something was missing.
It turns out there was a lot missing - about an hour worth of footage - that included a love scene between Phillippee and Meyer. How could THAT be left on the cutting room floor? Somehow, I think this film would have grossed far more than $16.6 million at the domestic box office if it had felt more complete and been more satisfying.
It was made with a production budget of just $13 million and was released by Miramax Films which seemed to be more than a little queasy about the racier content and especially about the gay content. The real Studio 54 was more than just a little gay so if you are going to release a movie about it, I would think you'd have to go for it. Instead, this watered-down version came out and was most memorable for the absolute transformation of Mike Myers who was NOTHING like Austin Powers or Linda Richmond in this flick!
Since 2008 is only a little more than a year away, I personally think that would be the perfect time for Disney, which owns the rights the Miramax library, to release some kind of a restored version - or directors cut - of the movie with all of these juicy scenes intact. My guess is, they could make a lot of MONEY off of it. I know a complete version of the movie would sell a lot more DVDs than just a 10th anniversary release of the shorter version.
And if Ryan and Brecken getting cozy weren't enough to attract major gay interest, get this: "All My Children" leading man Cameron Mathison, one of THE hunkiest men in the acting profession, would have far more screen time in a longer version of the movie. And it is said that gay fans of this impossibly gorgeous man would be very pleased to see what was left of Cameron on the cutting room floor.