A new 4K restoration of Leaving Las Vegas is heading our way

Following on from its World Premiere at Berlin International Film Festival, STUDIOCANAL is thrilled to announce a brand new 4K restoration of the unforgettable Oscar®-winning 1990s indie masterpiece LEAVING LAS VEGAS on 4K UHD for the first time and a new Blu-Ray, on 18 May. Directed by Oscar®-nominated director Mike Figgis (MEGADOC, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, THE BROWNING VERSION) who also co-wrote the Oscar® & BAFTA-nominated screenplay with John O’Brien, LEAVING LAS VEGAS is a devastating and deeply human portrait of addiction and loneliness, set against the unforgiving glitter and grit of Las Vegas, adapted from O’Brien’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Showcasing an extraordinary multi-dimensional Oscar®-winning performance from Nicolas Cage (ADAPTATION, WILD AT HEART) as the self-destructive and vulnerable Ben Sanderson – a Hollywood screenwriter who heads to Las Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death, LEAVING LAS VEGAS also stars Oscar® & BAFTA nominee Elisabeth Shue (BATTLE OF THE SEXES, THE KARATE KID) as Sera, the empathetic sex worker with whom Ben falls in love. Shot largely on Super 16mm with snippets of hand-held camerawork and an immersive improvised rhythm that mirror’s Ben’s spiralling consciousness, the film is complemented by Figgis’s self-composed moody Jazz-infused score, which features the soulfully melancholic voice of Sting.

You can pre-order it here.

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Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue star in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, a heady cocktail of unsentimental boozer film and both a powerful and disturbing story of unconditional love, set against the backdrop of high-rollers and low-lives inhabiting the colourful world of Las Vegas.

From writer/director Mike Figgis comes an uncompromising story of two disenfranchised souls who connect for a moment in time, based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by John O’Brien. His portrayal of an alcoholic who sets out to drink himself to death in the neon-lit Sin City of the title garnered Nicolas Cage an Oscar®.

Ben is an alcoholic with no future – his Hollywood studio has sacked him, his wife has left him and each day he becomes ever more dependent on drinking. Determined to put an end to his misery, Ben heads for Las Vegas, the only town where the bars never close, where he meets Sera, a street-smart prostitute. The two drifters find, see and understand each other, they fall in love and decide to live together, accepting who they both are, until the very end.

“I made Leaving Las Vegas because I wanted to. I wanted to re-engage with a darker, more truthful reality than was on offer within the Hollywood system. A dear friend (Stuart Regen) had found the book in a 2nd hand store in Santa Monica and it was he who optioned the story and gave it to me to read. It would be truthful to say that neither myself or the actors had any expectation of success, every studio had turned it down because it was ‘too dark’. I think we all did it because of the material, a chance to really get into something with substance and grit. I believe that success is always a combination of a number of chance possibilities. The Gods of cinema smiled on the film and the audience received it with gratitude. I am immensely proud of the actors and the film and very happy to be able to share with a new audience.” Mike Figgis

Shot over one month and on a modest budget of $4million LEAVING LAS VEGAS went on to gross almost $50million at the Box Office on release in 1995 and acquired an impressive run of awards & nominations at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. The film remains a breakthrough in American indie cinema proving that a raw, uncompromising story about despair and addiction can achieve critical acclaim and mainstream recognition.

About the restoration

For the new digitally restored 4K version of the film the Super16 original negative and 35mm dupe sections (for opticals, titles, subtitles) were scanned at Silver Salt Restoration in the UK (Super16) and at Duplitech (35mm dupe sections). The final colour and restoration were completed at Duplitech under supervision by colourists Blake David-Blasingame & Dave Lewis before the final colour grade was approved by Mike Figgis himself.
A new trailer has also been created for the release.

The brand new 4K UHD & Blu-Ray editions will include new Zoom interviews with Mike Figgis, Nicolas Cage & Elisabeth Shue TBC, a new documentary by Mike Figgis TBC,  a new audio commentary with Mike Figgis, original interviews, B-Roll, a ‘Making of’ featurette and a new 20-page booklet.