--- title: "Ken Russell’s The Devils NC-17 director’s cut is coming to 4K Ultra HD after 55 years of censorship" url: https://badiyaa.com/ken-russell-devils-4k-directors-cut/ published: 2026-11-10T20:07:00+00:00 modified: 2026-11-10T20:07:00+00:00 section: Entertainment publisher: Badiyaa --- # Ken Russell’s The Devils NC-17 director’s cut is coming to 4K Ultra HD after 55 years of censorship Ken Russell's The Devils is coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in its uncut NC-17 director's cut, with a standard set and a three-disc Collector's Edition. For 55 years nobody could legally take home the version of *The Devils* that Ken Russell actually wanted people to see. That is about to change. The NC-17 director’s cut of Russell’s 1971 film, restored in 4K by Warner Bros. Clockwork, is coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, with preorders opening this week. The label showed off the packaging on November 9 and set up a formal reveal for November 10. Early retailer listings point to two versions: a three-disc Collector’s Edition in a DigiPack at a list price of $79.99, and a standard edition at $39.99. In the UK, where the British Film Institute partnered on the cinema run, the discs are listed for April 20, 2027, according to a report on the UK listings. ## Why this disc matters Russell’s film, starring Oliver Reed as the priest Urbain Grandier and Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne des Anges, retells the 17th-century possessions at Loudun in France. It drew on Aldous Huxley’s 1952 book *The Devils of Loudun* and John Whiting’s stage play. Censors and the studio itself carved it up. Warner Bros. removed two whole scenes before it ever reached the British board, including a two-and-a-half-minute sequence in the church that became the most notorious missing footage in British film. The American release ran about 108 minutes and was rated X; a further trimmed 1973 reissue picked up an R. Finland banned the film outright until 2001. The cut that has now been restored runs about 115 minutes. It was rebuilt in 2004 under Russell’s own supervision with his editor Michael Bradsell, alongside critic Mark Kermode and Paul Joyce. Kermode had found the missing footage in the studio vaults, but the studio kept it off home video for another two decades, and the online #FreeTheDevils campaign, backed by Guillermo del Toro, kept the pressure on. ## A timeline of the long road home - **1971:** *The Devils* opens with cuts on both sides of the Atlantic and an X rating in the US and UK, then wins best director at Venice. - **2002 to 2004:** The restored footage is screened in London and the director’s cut is reassembled with Russell. - **2012:** The BFI releases a DVD, but of the shorter UK theatrical version. - **May 14, 2026:** The 4K restoration premieres in Cannes Classics. - **October 2026:** It returns to theaters, starting with a one-week North American run on October 16 that keeps getting extended. The UK and Ireland follow on October 30. - **November 2026:** Disc preorders open. According to the BFI, which announced the UK cinema release in August, this is “the definitive cut of The Devils, and no other director’s cut formally exists.” The restoration was done from the original camera negative, with the sound rebuilt from the original 35mm magnetic track. ## What is on the disc The UK listings include the unedited 2004 commentary with Russell, Bradsell, Kermode and Joyce, a new interview with del Toro, a 2004 Q&A with Russell and Kermode, behind-the-scenes footage and trailers. The Collector’s Edition adds a further disc carrying three different cuts of the film. A Blu-ray comes in both packages, and there appears to be no DVD. The rating that once kept the film in the shadows now sits on the box. The Motion Picture Association gave the restored version an NC-17 for “sexual content/graphic nudity” before its October run, placing it back in the adults-only bracket where its 1971 X rating had left it. It is the second big restoration story of the month. Bong Joon Ho’s monster film is also back, as we noted when [The Host returned to US theaters in 4K](https://badiyaa.com/bong-joon-ho-host-4k-restoration/). More classic and cult cinema news lives in our [Entertainment section](https://badiyaa.com/category/entertainment/). Next summer brings one more milestone. Russell was born on July 3, 1927, and BFI Southbank in London plans to screen every one of his theatrical features across July and August 2027 to mark his centenary. ## Further reading - [Wikipedia: The Devils (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devils_(film)) *Image: Rossano aka Bud Care, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons* *This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. [How we work](https://badiyaa.com/editorial-policy/).*