A second chance at Cannes

Hundreds of movies come to the Cannes Film Festival looking for a launch.

Only a few arrive seeking a relaunch.

The Weinstein Co. brought a new, longer version of Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” to the 60th annual festival. It hopes the extended, and separately released, version of the director’s half of the “Grindhouse” double-bill could generate more excitement in worldwide markets than the combined Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez film did when released April 6 in the United States. The highly publicized collaboration has sold only $24.5 million worth of tickets domestically.

With 27 minutes of added footage, “Death Proof” now runs close to two hours and includes the lap dance Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito) owes Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), more back story about Mike’s plans for stalking women and a black-and-white segment set in a convenience store.

“The way the tone changed as far as Stuntman Mike is concerned, to me, is the greatest difference between the two movies,” Tarantino said at a news conference.

Tone also was very much on the mind of writer-director Cecilia Miniucchi, whose “Expired” is getting a Cannes restart after premiering at January’s Sundance Film Festival. The film follows two emotionally damaged Los Angeles traffic officers (Samantha Morton and Jason Patric) who, between handing out parking violations, start dating.

But Patric’s Jay is an abusive misogynist, and Morton’s Claire something of a doormat. When the film’s closing scene suggested that the couple would end up together, Sundance audience members audibly groaned.

So Miniucchi’s producers raised some more money, and she went back into the editing room, eliminating the closing scene, cutting one incident of Jay humiliating Claire and adding a sequence of Claire singing karaoke. Sundance, as it turned out, was almost a research screening.

“I like it now. I feel very confident about the way it plays,” said Miniucchi, who admitted her Sundance edit was rushed. “Now it’s a bit more in keeping with how this woman manages to overcome a relationship that is not good for her. She does have a better life for herself, and she does move on.”

After being unable to sell the film in Park City, Utah, Miniucchi now believes her new “Expired” is anything but, and will soon land a U.S. distributor.