Over at Geeks of Doom there’s a story about a rumor that’s floating around about the possibility that Marvel Studios is planning to re-release The Avengers back in theaters this summer (but it’s still playing!), but in a version that the general public has never seen.
If you recall the story about the forthcoming Blu-ray release, director Joss Whedon mentioned during a press junket interview with Collider that the disc would include 30 minutes of deleted scenes. The Blu-ray is set to be released on September 25th.
The question is about those deleted scenes, if incorporated back into the film, would it help or harm the pacing. If that footage makes its way into a director’s cut, maxing out the film’s running time from 142 minutes to close to three hours, the likelihood it would get a release is sometime in August. After the first weekend, which will be dominated by new arrivals The Bourne Legacy and Total Recall, The Avengers could open easily against the likes of comedies The Campaign and Hit and Run, plus thrillers The Apparition and Premium Rush.
The strategy isn’t anything new. James Cameron’s Avatar had a re-release with added footage several months after it had already made over a billion at the box office. No doubt the suits at Marvel Studios are looking at domestic grosses and probably feel with a re-release the superhero team can overtake the sinking of the Titanic to finish with the second-best grossing domestic release of all time.
Bear in mind this is strictly a rumor now. Personally, I’d like to see a longer cut just so we can see more character exposition – supposedly, Captain America was to have a longer arc where we see him encountering Peggy Carter in present day.
What do you guys think? Would you watch it in theaters again? Should the material be saved for the Blu-ray release instead? Let us know.
