Is Hollywood in its fan edit era? ‘Leviticus’ blurs the line between movie studios and internet culture

Word of mouth can make or break a film’s success at the box office. In the digital age, that often looks like hype on social media, from rave reviews like those driving Obsession’s success to the much-memed scene inspiring audiences to check out I Love Boosters. One surefire sign of an active fandom is the creation of fan edits, short compilations of clips from a movie or TV show set to music, often with thematic significance to the source material. Though fan edits are (as the name implies) crafted by fans, one upcoming movie found a way to kickstart their creation weeks ahead of its release. That movie is Leviticus, a new horror film coming to theaters on June 19. Leviticus follows two teenage boys discovering their queer identities and falling for each other—only for a disturbing, demonic possession to rip them apart. Though Leviticus has already received some buzz after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, director Adrian Chiarella took things to a new level by offering fans early access to a “scene pack,” a collection of clips curated to be the perfect fodder for fan edits. Giving fans a head start Where fan edits typically can only pull from trailers ahead of a film’s release (and from cam rips and pirated material before it comes to streaming), Leviticus shook up that formula by releasing an official “scene pack.” On social media, the movie’s account shared a link to the scene pack, along with an encouragement to “edit your heart out” and a letter from director Chiarella. “Thanks so much for jumping on these clips and showing some love to the film,” Chiarella wrote, adding that he hopes fans will enjoy editing lead actors Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen as much as he did. “I had so much fun cutting their performances in the edit, because they just have this incredible chemistry that’s impossible to fake. There’s so much going on behind their eyes when they look at each other,” Chiarella explained. “So honestly, go nuts. Make wh