The film was completed just in time for the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, where it was much awaited. Jodorowsky edited out twenty minutes of dialogue from the film, with the intention of removing as much dialogue as he could. The film had its premiere at Waverly Theatre, an art house movie theater in New York City on 29 November 1973, where it had restricted run at midnights on Friday and Saturday for sixteen months. It was also shown at Filmex on 30 March 1974, which was described as the "American premiere." At a few places it was released as a double bill with Jodorowsky's 1970 film, "El Topo", and eventually became a cult film with its influence on popular culture.