I love a lot of ideas here. Cutting the entire negotiation at the beginning does seem to be a common thing tho which I don’t think would be best since it’s the only thing that shows what the Jedi’s main job is supposed to be (diplomats that are meant to resolve conflicts, hence why Mace says they’re “keepers of the peace, not soldiers”). I don’t see why so many people dislike it since it basically just turns into an action sequence, it’s not like you actually see the negotiation. I understand cutting down the opening act a bit since I do agree it goes on for a bit too long but I think removing that they’re there to negotiate wouldn’t be best.
I’m on the same boat. I kept the scene in my edit, although I shortened it a lot. Most of what I cut was stuff involving the Gunrays. Stuff like the opening “This invasion is perfectly legal” speech, mentioning the Neimoidians being cowards, lines and shots demonstrating that cowardice, etc. I also ended the scene with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan deciding to take separate ships instead of Nute’s discussion with Amidala. Taking a lot of that stuff out makes things go by faster while also removing a lot of the weaknesses of that scene.