Tarantino (right) has written and directed Kill Bill

The film, starring Uma Thurman as a female assassin, is being released as two separate 90-minute movies after the early version weighed in at three hours.

Miramax decided to divide the film over fears it would lose ticket sales because of its original length.

The first part, released as planned in the US on 10 October, will be Tarantino's first film since Jackie Brown in 1997. It is scheduled to arrive in UK cinemas two weeks later.

Thurman plays an assassin out for revenge

It has been long awaited by fans of the director of acknowledged classics such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

Kill Bill is a samurai revenge film, inspired in part by the kung fu movies of the 1970s, shot on location in China, Japan, Mexico and California.

Thurman's character survives an attempt on her life and, after spending five years in a coma, sets out for vengeance.

According to the Screen Daily film industry website, the films will be released within a couple of months of one another and subtitled Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Screen Daily said Tarantino and Miramax were working on localised Asian versions of the films, which would be longer and show more graphic violence.