Most of the press about Angelina Jolie’s directorial work on Unbroken has been about how she had to convince the studio that she was the right person for the job. I believe that she was genuinely passionate about the project and that she really wanted to do right by Louis Zamperini. Still, Unbroken is only her second film and even though she’s Dame Angelina (literally!), the studio was still looking over her shoulder. If she had messed it up, I have no doubt that the studio would have sent in some fixers to protect the project. Page Six says that the studio was happy with Angelina’s work during Unbroken’s production, but there were problems in post-production. Specifically, there were problems with Angelina’s “director’s cut” of the film.

Angelina Jolie’s Oscar contender, “Unbroken,” will screen for media and other VIPs this week — but sources tell Page Six that the film they’ll see will be Universal’s cut after she turned in a version of the movie that was deemed “too arthouse.” “Unbroken” follows the true story of American Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who later became a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp.

The film has screened in Australia and the UK and will be unveiled in New York this week, including a Tuesday screening at MoMA followed by a Q&A with director Jolie and her cast as part of the museum’s The Contenders series. The film is perhaps the last potential major Oscar contender yet to be shown.

But a source says the finished work is different than the one Jolie handed in to Universal as her director’s cut. While a rare few top-tier directors get the privilege of “final cut,” it’s increasingly rare — particularly on big-budget studio releases.

“Universal re-edited her movie, because it was too arthouse,” a Hollywood insider said. “They took control and edited it into a more commercial movie.”

“A lot of people tried to make his life story into a movie,” said a source. “This has been a real passion project for Angelina. Her cut was intense and dark in some places. But the studio wants the movie to be a commercial success, so took control of the final cut and re-edited it. Jolie can’t have been happy about it, but she is proud of the movie and let the studio make the changes it needed to.”

While a rep for Jolie couldn’t be reached, a Universal spokesperson said, “It is patently untrue.”

[From Page Six]

I would imagine that this story is actually true, just because this kind of thing is very, very common. Angelina’s cut was probably too long and – if the film is accurate to the book – very violent, bordering on torture p0rn. Universal wanted a PG-13 rating (and they got it) and they wanted this to be a film that families could see together, so they recut it. Most directors working today do not have final cut – it’s something that has to be earned after a director works in the industry a long time, and even then… someone like Harvey Weinstein can still come in and tell a legendary director to shave off 10 minutes or edit down that scene or whatever.

Meanwhile, did you hear about the bizarre “hack” of Sony Pictures Entertainment during the holiday? Apparently, hackers going by The Guardians of Peace hacked into Sony and stole the studio’s “sensitive documents” about everyone from Cameron Diaz to Angelina. Like, hackers now have PDF copies of Angelina’s passport, and the passport images of Camy Diaz, Jonah Hill and more. Also, medical riders, contracts and more were stolen. Go here to read more.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.