in 1994, where the cast performed a live riff on This Island Earth, a Universal production. Universal Pictures agreed to distribute the film through Gramercy Pictures. The film was shot away from the Best Brains corporate headquarters and studio in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, at Energy Park Studios in St. Paul. Deleted scenes At the beginning of the film, it was originally planned to have a new version of the "MST3K Love Theme" by Dave Alvin, but the song was reduced to an instrumental version over the end credits. To trim the film's duration, Gramercy ordered one of the host segments to be cut. In this scene, Mike and the bots hide out in the ship's storm shelter to avoid a meteor shower. The barrage of meteors threatens to damage the ship's oxygen supply, and Crow, Servo and Gypsy rush to save Mike's life. The ending was also changed – originally, the film's final moments depicted Mike and the bots exacting revenge on Forrester by hooking up Servo's interocitor to the video feed from the Hexfield Viewscreen and sending a Metalunan mutant (played by MST3K prop man and toolmaster Jef Maynard) to strangle the mad scientist. At the end, Crow goes back to the basement to plan another escape attempt, this time armed with the chainsaw that he found in Servo's room earlier in the film. The new theme song, cut scene and alternate ending were shown at the 1996 "Mystery Science Theater 3000 ConventioCon ExpoFest-O-Rama 2: Electric Bugaloo", but were not included on home media releases until the Shout! Factory Collector's Edition. Release Box office Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released on April 19, 1996 in only 26 theaters, grossing $206,328, a $7,935 per theater average. It went on to gross $1,007,306. Critical reception The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 80% rating, based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie may be thin and uneven, but it's hilarious in enough of the right spots to do the show's big-screen transition justice." Home media The film was released on VHS by MCA/Universal Home Video to rental outlets on October 1, 1996. The film was released for retail sales on April 8, 1997 on both VHS and Laserdisc formats. MST3K: The Movie was released on DVD