VIDEO: The Iron Giant back in cinemas with new scenes

Brad Bird’s 1999 masterpiece The Iron Giant is set to return to cinemas in October with entirely new scenes for the first time

The Iron Giant is a film with a strange and somewhat unfortunate history.

Inspired by Ted Hughes 1968 children’s book it was the feature directorial debut of Brad Bird who went on to helm The Incredibles and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol.

It’s the story of a boy and a robot from outer space, voiced by none other than Vin Diesel in practise for Groot.

And despite tremendous reviews the film was a box office disaster, grossing $30 million on a $70 million budget.

But the film gained real attention on home video, particularly DVD as the years progressed and was constantly rediscovered as Bird moved on to new movies and bigger success.

It has since been hailed as a cult hit, so much so that studio Warner Bros is giving the film another try in cinemas.

In October, The Iron Giant will be back on the big screen for a limited run in a new Signature Edition, which restores never before seen footage to the animated classic.

It’s great to see the film finally getting this kind of lavish attention, and the release of the expanded version is also great news for fans around the world.

After years of discussion with Brad Bird, it seems Warner Bros has finally worked on a massive cleanup and restoration of the film, and they have also confirmed a blu-ray release to follow before the end of 2015.

And we’re hoping for a raftload of extra features to accompany this signature edition.

Right now it looks like the theatrical re-release of The Iron Giant is only happening in the United States but the home video version should be available everywhere this year.