Extended Avengers Assembling in Cinemas?

During the press junket for The Avengers, writer-director Joss Whedon casually dropped the bombshell that a 3 hour version of the movie existed at one point. Just as fans hopes of an extended Blu-Ray edition formed in their minds, the man himself stated that the longer version would never see the light of day.

Well then the small matter of $1.5 billion and counting was made at the box office, the whispers of a big screen extended re-release are creeping out and looking more likely by the day.

Nothing has been confirmed by Marvel and director’s/extended cuts don’t always perform well. Avatar is the biggest movie of all time, and when an extended edition was released in cinemas (and in 3D) audiences stayed away. DVD and Blu-Ray has been the standard release platform for extended editions, but then few have the re-watchable appeal of The Avengers.

Personally I’d go see a 4 hour cut, the theatrical version would always be there and extended editions offer an alternative version and gets to include scenes cut purely for timing.

Time will tell is this will actually happen, but fan reaction to a possible re-release has been very positive so far and the studio are unlikely to deny themselves even more millions. The only potential roadblock could be Whedon, he has yet to sign on the dotted line for the sequel and if he really doesn’t want the extended edition to be released he could use this as leverage.