Warner Bros. is set to release Ken Russell's highly acclaimed and controversial 1971 film, The Devils, in theaters nationwide this October. This marks the first time in over 20 years that the studio will distribute a film with an NC-17 rating in the United States.
The re-release will feature a newly restored 4K version of the film’s director’s cut. This particular cut was previously screened for a limited time in the UK over two decades ago. The Devils, considered by many critics to be filmmaker Ken Russell’s greatest work, presents a fictionalized and graphic account of the downfall of 17th-century Roman Catholic priest Urbain Grandier, who was accused of witchcraft. The narrative also interweaves the story of Sister Jeanne des Anges, a sexually repressed nun who plays a pivotal role in Grandier's demise.
After decades of being difficult to find, the director’s cut of The Devils will have its theatrical release in the United States starting October 16 and will run for one week only. Warner Bros. states that this version offers the "uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned" and is the "first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K."
While a physical disc release has not yet been confirmed, it is considered likely. The NC-17 rating, often assigned to extremely violent films or those containing explicit sexual content and nudity, is similar to the ESRB's rarely issued AO rating. Historically, the NC-17 rating has sometimes deterred certain theater chains and retailers, a factor that reportedly impacted the box-office performance of John Waters' A Dirty Shame in 2004, which was the last NC-17 film distributed theatrically by Warner Bros.