What editions are available?
- Theatrical Cut (104 min.)
- Director’s Cut (112 min.)
The horror film 1408 is considered one of the better film adaptations of the works of Stephen King. It is based on a short story of the same name from the short story collection Everything’s Eventual. 1408 was released on DVD in the US in a Collector’s Edition where it included the theatrical and director’s cut. The US Blu-ray release only includes the director’s cut.
Director Mikael Håfström was joined by screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski on the commentary track of the US Blu-ray. Håfström had some interesting things to say about the director’s cut where he simply opened up the commentary with the following:
“Hello. We’re gonna try together to navigate you through this so-called director’s cut of 1408.”
Source: Mikael Håfström in the commentary track for 1408 on Blu-ray
Late in the commentary track, when watching the new ending the director’s cut, Håfström states the following:
“…I have to admit, I liked the ending we had. I think there is a lot of layers in the ending that we had in the theatrical version.”
Source: Mikael Håfström in the commentary track for 1408 on Blu-ray
Then, just when the credits starts to roll, Alexander decides to talk to Håfström about the director’s cut:
Scott Alexander: “What’s interesting is you call this the director’s cut, but it sounds like there are actually things about the theatrical version you prefer.”
Mikael Håfström: “Yeah, exactly, director’s cuts, you know, you can get the feeling that this is exactly what I wanted and I was forced to release something else. But that’s obviously not the case, as you can hear when you listen to us.”
Scott Alexander: “Well, maybe you should call it the special edition or something.”
Mikael Håfström: “Something like that. Sometimes, you don’t know. Do you?”
Source: Mikael Håfström in the commentary track for 1408 on Blu-ray
The director’s preferred edition: Theatrical Cut
Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com