One of the most controversial films in cinema history is returning to the big screen. Ken Russell’s The Devils — restored in 4K and finally presented in its uncensored Director’s Cut — opens in select North American theaters on October 16, 2026, courtesy of Warner Bros. Clockwork. The film has been rated NC-17 for sexual content and graphic nudity, making it the first NC-17 release in Warner Bros.’ 103-year history.
The Devils (2026 restoration) — poster art. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Clockwork.
The Director’s Cut assembles the film from the original camera negative, with sound remastered from the original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz. The restoration references Russell’s own private edit from 2004 and was completed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color, and Warner Bros. Sound. The restored cut made its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Russell’s 1971 film remains a shattering work: a baroque, furiously angry account of the Loudun witch trials of 17th century France, in which Father Urbain Grandier is accused of sorcery and the possession of an entire convent of Ursuline nuns — a charge driven by political intrigue and the repressed obsessions of the convent’s prioress. Adapted from John Whiting’s play, itself based on Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, the film earned its reputation as one of the most formally audacious and viscerally challenging works in British cinema. For decades, the complete Director’s Cut has remained substantially unseen.
Ken Russell’s The Devils opens in select theaters on October 16, 2026.
