It used to be that if you wanted to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, you needed to cross your fingers, pray to a carton of Red Apple Cigarettes, and be within spitting distance of the New Beverly Theatre. For years, I was taunted by the fact that LA-based friends could actually see the omnibus version of Uma Thurman’s rampage of revenge the way Quentin Tarantino intended.

Well, it looks like I won’t be taunted for much longer, as Variety is reporting that the reassembled version of Kill Bill is heading to wide release, for the very first time. Slated for December 5th, Lionsgate’s debut of this long coveted honor was put on the board with this statement from QT himself: 

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!

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Key Differences

Those of you wondering where the real differences lie with Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair and its individual components, pay attention. Basically, you chop off the final ending stinger where Bill (David Carradine) teases that The Bride’s baby is still alive, as well as the opening monologue suited for a theatrical trailer from Vol. 2, and stitch the two halves together. Oh, and a lot more uncensored violence, including the House of Blue Leaves showdown in full bloody color. 

Daryl Hannah Vivica A Fox Michael Madsen and Lucy Liu look down menacingly at the camera in the Kill Bill trailer.

As if that wasn’t enough, a new “never-before-seen” animated sequence is also on tap to debut with Kill Bill’s triumphant return to theaters. For someone who’s followed this story since Quentin Tarantino first teased its existence roughly 20 years ago, this is a glorious day. Not that I wouldn’t want to visit either the New Beverly or Vista Theatre, but travelling to New York for a 70mm print of The Whole Bloody Affair is a much more budget-friendly option. 

If you’ve been waiting as long as I have, you’ll want to jump on tickets for Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’s December 5th debut as soon as they go up. Now, if we can get Lionsgate and Mr. Tarantino committed to a 4K home release of this mythic movie, that would truly make things just about square. Though if you’re lucky, you might be able to still snag those individual releases from the Quentin Tarantino 4K Steelbooks released earlier this year.