I think the original opening has more footage intercut right at the beginning than the director's cut but I could be wrong.
Either way, using the Director's cut as the basis of the opening is a great idea.
I also think there may be a shot or two of Blix in the beginning of the American cut that is not in the Director's cut (I decided to check this statement the best that I could - I checked my notes on the various versions and I didn't note any differences there. Maybe I'm just remembering incorrectly.)
Either way I think you are totally on the right track.
Sean