Is there actually an extended cut of Paprika?!

I was at a bar a few months ago and saw they were projecting this version of Satoshi Kon's Paprika on the wall, playing off a VHS tape:
[https://imgur.com/a/JZfsq2T](https://imgur.com/a/JZfsq2T)

I asked the bartender why the movie looked like this and he said "this is the director's cut of Paprika!" I told him I never heard of that, and he smiled out of the corner of his mouth a bit and was like "no one has, this is the only copy in existence!" I asked how he has this, and he just told me he has his ways. At this point, I had places to be so I left, planning to Google it when I got home. But when I got home later that day, I couldn't find any information about an extended cut anywhere! Looking at the time stamps in the photo, it looks like this version of the movie has (at least) a whopping 20 minutes of additional footage. This is absolutely crazy to me, does anybody have any info on this? Does a random bartender in NYC have the only copy of a lost masterpiece?!

Any info would help

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TankYouBearyMunch2026-01-01 11:37

It has 2 extras. Maybe they slapped those at the end.

paprika.a.conversation.about.the.dream
paprika.tsutsui.and.kon's.paprika

AMachineMan2026-01-01 12:00

What's the length of the 2 extras? Maybe they stuck them at the beginning

Pupusas_Man2026-01-02 04:02

https://letterboxd.com/film/paprika-a-conversation-about-the-dream/details/

https://letterboxd.com/film/tsutsui-and-kons-paprika/details/

Kangalooney2026-01-01 11:41

That is an audience test edit. Such things are normal in the film industry and are rarely final or even director's cuts. It is unlikely that anything left on the cutting floor was important to the final edit or the director's vision.

AMachineMan2026-01-01 11:59

Makes sense, but the timestamps indicate that these scenes take place an hour and 50 minutes in. The final film is only 90 minutes. What could have been included in the cut 20-30 minutes?

IbizenThoth2026-01-01 15:43

Given the economics of anime production, I really doubt there would be a significant amount of cut content produced at finished quality.

While film production isn't just letting the camera roll, animation is literally willing every single frame into existence with artists touching each for hours at a time (and consuming material resources throughout that process).

The decision to cut a scene would probably happen earlier in the process when it's less expensive to do so. Anime production has always been constrained by available resources and cutting finished work would probably be seen as incredibly wasteful.

PyroSparky2026-01-01 17:30

The timecode doesn't necessarily correlate to the film length; it will include everything; including title cards for the various production companies, test pattern, etc. Since this is a test or sales tape from Sony pictures (SPHE) there may be additional promo/sales info at the front that's included in the count.

Kadmos12026-01-01 15:26

Even in the Golden Age of Hollywood, which usu. 1927-1948 counting the studio system, there were director's cut-type situations.

CyborgCabbage2026-01-01 23:37

Of it was a VHS tape it could just be a recording with 30 minutes of something else on the beginning