As if The Avengers hasn’t made enough money at the box office there is now a rumor floating around that Marvel is planning on re-releasing the movie into theaters towards the tail end of the summer, but in a version never before seen by the general public.

Writer-director Joss Whedon has stated in interviews that there would be around a half-hour of deleted scenes from the movie on the forthcoming Avengers Blu-ray set to be released on September 25. If the rumor is true that deleted footage could be making its way back into the film as part of a 3-hour-long director’s cut Whedon is possibly preparing for the Blu-ray that could hit the big screen this August.

Apparently Marvel Studios has looked at the movie’s $573.7 million (and counting) domestic box office gross and decided that the irresistible prospect of an extended re-release of The Avengers could add a lot more cash to their coffers and even maybe dethrone the current domestic box office champ: James Cameron’s Avatar, which currently sits at $760.5 million and also got a re-release with added footage several months after its blockbuster original run concluded.

If this rumor turns out to be true I would love to see a longer cut of The Avengers in theaters, even though I heartily believe that the movie is perfect as is. Most of what was cut from the movie were character beats, such as Captain America (Chris Evans) encountering his lost love in the present, and those could always make for a more enriching cinematic experience. Right now this is just a rumor; approach with caution.

[Source: Geek Tyrant]