Margaret

Director Kenneth Lonergan retained final cut privilege under his contract with Fox Searchlight Pictures, a provision that complicated the studio's ability to intervene during the prolonged post-production period. Fox Searchlight Pictures declined to terminate the directorial arrangement despite the editing process extending well beyond the original schedule. Removal of a director with contractual final cut authority carried significant reputational risk for the specialty division within the broader filmmaking community. The studio relied on contractual provisions limiting the theatrical run-time to 150 minutes as its primary leverage during the dispute. Producer Scott Rudin departed the project during the post-production conflict, citing irreconcilable disagreements over the editing direction. The specialty division ultimately accepted a 150-minute theatrical cut in 2011 after six years of post-production work, well beyond the originally projected release window of 2006 or 2007.

When Lisa comes home after the accident, throws up and hugs her mother, there's no blood on her arms and hands. In the next shots under the shower, there is plenty.

Director Kenneth Lonergan completed a 186-minute extended version with additional footage, a revised score, and a new sound mix for release on DVD in July 2012. This version runs 36 minutes longer than the 150-minute theatrical cut. The extended cut appeared only in 480p resolution on standard DVD and never received a high-definition release. The Blu-ray disc in the retail combo pack contains exclusively the 150-minute theatrical version, whereas the accompanying DVD contains exclusively the 186-minute extended version with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Lonergan rejected the label of a official director's cut for the 186-minute version, designating the release as an alternate extended version rather than a restoration of director control. Significant differences between the two versions include a substantially reworked sound design that alters background dialogue and audio layering throughout multiple scenes. The original distributor mandated a strict 150-minute maximum run-time for the 2011 theatrical release, though the preferred cut ran nearly three hours. Filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker assisted in editing a 165-minute compromise version that received Lonergan's approval, but financial producers blocked the release of that specific iteration.