Criterion Edition of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet Will Include 51 Minutes of ‘Lost’ Footage

Fans of David Lynch’s surreal, cerebral movies will have 51 more minutes of material to pore over when a special edition of Blue Velvet (1986) is released this May. As IndieWire reports, a Criterion Collection edition of the film will have a bonus feature titled “The Lost Footage,” among other extras. Lynch, who directed Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, and Eraserhead, personally compiled all of the deleted scenes and alternate takes, while also overseeing the film’s digital restoration.

The deleted scenes previously appeared in a 25th anniversary Blu-ray, but if you didn’t have the chance to snag a copy in 2011, here’s your second chance. Speaking to The Guardian in 2011, Lynch said one of his favorite deleted scenes from Blue Velvet involved a “flaming nipple.” However, Lynch said the footage of an actress setting her nipple on fire with a match “was too much of a good thing,” so it was cut. Blue Velvet was trimmed from three and a half hours of footage down to two hours, and Lynch thought the “lifts,” as they’re called in the film industry, were lost forever. That all changed when an employee in MGM's technical services department rediscovered the footage.

Even without the extra 51 minutes of footage, Blue Velvet ended up becoming a critical success (and earned Lynch an Oscar nomination for Best Director). This was undoubtedly a relief for Lynch, considering that his previous film, Dune, was a flop. 

A page has been created for the Criterion edition of Blue Velvet on Amazon, but it isn't available for pre-order just yet. However, a DVD or Blu-ray copy can be pre-ordered from Criterion’s website, which will be available May 28.

[h/t IndieWire]