April 9, 2008
Source: Twitch
by Alex Billington

Last November we posted an article speculating that the upcoming sci-fi movie Babylon A.D. was going to be edited by Fox before its release, the same way Hitman and Live Free or Die Hard were previously. I've been following the development of Babylon A.D. since the start because it looks like an incredibly return to science fiction for Vin Diesel. Unfortunately Twitch has an update - and it's for the worst. They've heard that the film has been submitted to UK's BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for certification as a 90 minute, soft PG-13 flick, which is not what it .

Last year it was reported that the 2 hours and 40 minutes version that French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz originally shot was going to be significantly shorter in the US. At that time it was only speculation - the information was coming from a trusted source. Now this information is solid, it's actually coming from the BBFC (you can see the page on their site here!). The only bit in question is how much they cut and whether Kassovitz's original version was much longer and R-rated. However, if that 160 minutes is accurate, then that means they've cut 70 minutes out - nearly half of the film!

Twitch reports that the BBFC has rated the film 12A, "which is the equivalent of a soft PG-13 in the US - many PG-13 films are rated 15 in the UK - meaning there can't be much action or violence left in the picture whatsoever." I'm not familiar with Kassovitz, but Twitch is, and they say "there's absolutely no way he set out to make a PG-13 rated action picture, no way at all." I'm pretty sure I believe them, because I've thought all along that this way going to be R. From the photos to the plot synopsis to the set reports and everything. It sounds like this is truly turning out disastrous.

In the film, Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop (Vin Diesel) takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to China. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah and destroy the human race. Check out this very badass behind-the-scenes featurette made after they finished shooting.