Quentin Tarantino’s martial arts epic, Kill Bill, was originally written and filmed as one single movie. However, fans know it best as two separate films, Volume 1 and Volume 2, released six months apart. The decision to split The Bride’s revenge saga was driven by the film’s massive four-hour length, allowing Tarantino to keep all the scenes he loved without having to make drastic cuts. Now, decades later, his original vision is coming to life with the upcoming release of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.
The Reason Behind the Split
The core reason for splitting Kill Bill was its runtime. When Quentin Tarantino first completed his cut, the film was approximately four hours long. At that length, it was considered too long for a single theatrical release.
The idea to divide the film came from Tarantino and the movie’s co-producer, Harvey Weinstein. While reports suggested the idea started almost as a joke, both were intrigued by it. Weinstein was known for often urging directors to shorten their films, making the split a attractive solution.
In a 2004 interview, Tarantino explained that he embraced the idea because the alternative was cutting down his movie significantly. He stated:
“When Harvey brought up the idea of splitting it up in half, I really kind of jumped to it and the reason I jumped to it is because, look, conceivably, and other movies have done it and they’ve succeeded at doing this, is I could have maybe, maybe cut this down to the bone and made it more compact and it wouldn’t have been just Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 put together. It wouldn’t have been a four-hour movie.”
What Was Saved by Making Two Movies
By choosing to release two volumes, Tarantino avoided having to remove several key scenes that he felt were essential to the story. He confirmed that if he had been forced to edit Kill Bill down to a standard three-hour runtime, many memorable moments would have been lost.
He specifically mentioned that the Esteban Vihaio scene, which he described as “one of the most mesmerizing scenes in the movie,” would have been cut. Furthermore, the popular anime sequence telling O-Ren Ishii’s backstory would have been reduced to just the bare essentials. The iconic Pei Mai scene, where Beatrix learns the deadly palm technique, was also on the chopping block.
The two-volume approach was a major success. Kill Bill: Volume 1 was released on October 10, 2003, and Volume 2 followed in April 2004. Together, they earned over $330 million at the global box office, proving the commercial viability of the split.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair – The Original Vision
Despite the success of the two separate films, Tarantino has always maintained that Kill Bill is one movie. He has referred to the split as “chicanery” done in the editing room, a clever trick to get his full vision to audiences. He clarified, “I wrote and directed it as one movie.”
Fans will soon be able to experience that original vision. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is scheduled for a nationwide theatrical release on December 5, 2025. This version stitches the two volumes back into a single, four-hour film.
This new cut is more than just a combination of the existing movies. It will remove the cliffhanger ending from Volume 1 and the recap that began Volume 2, creating a seamless narrative. Most exciting for fans is the addition of a never-before-seen seven-and-a-half-minute animated sequence. Select presentations will be shown in 70mm and 35mm in theaters.
Tarantino has said:
“I wrote and directed it as one movie — and I’m so glad to give the fans the chance to see it as one movie. The best way to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is at a movie theater in Glorious 70mm or 35mm. Blood and guts on a big screen in all its glory!”
This release fulfills a long-standing goal for the director, who previously screened this version at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and at his own New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles in 2011. The 2025 release marks its first wide theatrical availability.
For Quentin Tarantino, this combined film represents the ultimate version of his story. He once called Kill Bill the “ultimate Quentin movie,” adding, “Every aspect about it is so particularly ripped, like with tentacles and bloody tissue, from my imagination and my id and my loves and my passion and my obsession. So I think Kill Bill is the movie I was born to make.”
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