Inside Stanley Kubrick’s Lost Vision for ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

Eyes Wide Shut, the 1999 thriller starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, was the last film directed by Stanley Kubrick. Just a few days after he showed an early cut to Warner Bros., Cruise, and Kidman, Kubrick died suddenly. Since then, long-standing rumors have suggested that Warner Bros. may have made changes before releasing the film to theaters. Now, Todd Field, who acted in the film and later became a director, has said the version audiences saw probably did not match what Kubrick intended.

Field spoke about the film’s legacy in a recent interview with IndieWire, timed with a new 4K restoration from the Criterion Collection. While expressing his respect for Kubrick, Field said the version he saw before the director’s death appeared to be a first cut, not a finished product.

“What we have is Stanley’s first cut. He died six days after screening that cut for Tom, Nic, [and Warner Bros. chiefs] Bob [Daly] and Terry [Semel]. If Stanley’s post-production on past films is taken into even modest consideration, it’s clear that the film would be different. However, it would be foolish to try and speculate about what might have changed had Stanley lived to make it so,” Field said.

Kubrick, known for Paths of Glory and 2001: A Space Odyssey, was famous for his perfectionism. His films often took years to complete, and production on Eyes Wide Shut proved no different. The shoot lasted more than 15 months, earning recognition from Guinness World Records as one of the longest continuous film productions ever recorded.

In his comments, Field described Kubrick’s filming style in detail. The director preferred long sessions with multiple takes, not for realism, but to create a rhythm and intensity similar to old studio pictures.

“Stanley did many takes. But this was for a practical reason. He wasn’t interested in realism. He wanted things to have the kind of intensity he grew up with watching classic studio movies. Stanley pointed out that, back then, a studio actor would rehearse their dialogue with real hand props weeks before arriving on set. And because of this, there was a kind of sophistication in the way they picked up a glass of water, or smoked a cigarette, or delivered a line while doing those things. There was nothing real about it — but it cast a spell on you and was magical to watch,” Field said.

He added that Kubrick’s approach relied on repetition: “It’s typical for directors to shoot as many as six set-ups with takes in the 30-to-60 range. Whereas Stanley shot just one or two set-ups and rarely more than 25 takes, and rarer still 60. He wanted a process that involved uninterrupted repetition, enabling an actor to get out of their head and as far as possible from what he considered to be postmodern screen acting.”

Kubrick’s sudden death in March 1999 fueled speculation about whether the film’s storyline, which centers on a secretive elite group engaged in ritualized sexual ceremonies, drew too close to real-world power circles. Some rumors have claimed Kubrick’s death prevented him from finishing the film or revealing more about its themes. No evidence has ever supported these claims, but they persist in discussions about the director’s final work.

***