Up to the director or not doesn’t really matter. The studio or producers can do whatever they want with a film as long as they don’t suppress the original version. Same goes for the director. Lucas had no right to suppress Star Wars even though he directed it.
Yes. The point is not whether they should get an approval by some hired actor director. The real point is that the original versions should not be suppressed by anyone.
Yes but calling them hired actor directors is reductive. They did more than that.