BLART SIDE OF THE MALL | Trailer

Presented in 2.39:1 CinemaScope, as originally shot by director Andy Fickman.

Released in 2015 as 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' after a series of revisions and production resets by Sony Pictures, the film was met with immense critical and audience disapproval, ultimately being considered by many to be the worst film of the year, and furthermore, one of the worst of all time. Andy Fickman was adamant that had the film been presented as originally intended — presented in CinemaScope and featuring a soundtrack set to the entirety of 'Dark Side of the Moon' (the legendary 1973 concept album by Pink Floyd), the film's reception would have been vastly different.

This unreleased version titled 'Blart Side of the Mall' was not only originally planned to feature Pink Floyd's music, but rerecorded and mixed instrumentals for almost every track by the surviving members of the band as to properly score the film. Fickman said: "Once Sony refused to pay Pink Floyd what they'd requested, I could see everything begin to come apart at the seams; it was then we knew that the movie wasn't going to release as we'd all dreamed it would." At the time of release, an non-disclosure agreement (NDA) prevented Fickman and the rest of the 'Blart Side of the Mall' cast and crew from addressing what had originally been planned for the film's soundtrack.

However, in 2017, Griffin McElroy (best known as a co-host and "babiest brother" of the popular podcast 'My Brother, My Brother and Me') opted to view 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' synced to Dark Side of the Moon looped thrice over (approximately 39 seconds into the runtime). This was initially done in the stoner tradition of films synced to the album, as started by the experience-altering discovery of 'The Wizard of Oz's extreme synchronicity (on levels both visual and thematic) — but McElroy never could've imagined the scope of what he'd uncover.

In a yearly podcast titled 'Til Death Do Us Blart', where the hosts have elected to watch 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' once a year and — in a mounting contemplation of the passage of time and their own mortality — discuss it every Thanksgiving for the rest of their lives, McElroy detailed his epic journey into the Wynn Las Vegas. Word quickly spread through the internet of this revelatory way to experience an otherwise below mediocre film, and Griffin's insistence that the film had to've been edited to Dark Side of the Moon would later be confirmed as more than mere speculation.

In 2020, Fickman, after the expiry of the 5-year long NDA on the troubled development of the film (and at the height of demand for directors to release the intended cuts of their previously released and subsequently underwhelming films), spoke out about the 'Blart Side of the Mall' cut, confirming that the released version was indeed roughly edited to 'Dark Side of the Moon', looped thrice over. Despite not being able to get Pink Floyd to contribute a proper score to the film, Sony Pictures recognized the demand for an official release and was quick to license 'Dark Side of the Moon' and apply it to a 'Fickman Cut' (as fans had alternatively referred to it as).

Now, on April 20th, 2021, you can experience 'BLART SIDE OF THE MALL' as it was always intended to be seen. Producer Adam Sandler (a long-time supporter of Fickman and his vision) said: "It's unreal to finally see the movie play like this, man, it's crazy. I mean, five f**king long years this guy mourned over this thing, it was like his baby, sh*t. It's so gratifying to see him finally get to put something together that he's proud of and show the world that this flick's got a lot of heart and a lot of soul in it. That's a man's blood, sweat and tears up there on the screen."

Til Death Do Us Blart:
https://www.tilldeathdousblart.com/
https://twitter.com/deathblart?lang=en