In some cases, the concept of the deleted scene goes over very well. Peacock, for instance, has made a habit of re-releasing superfan episodes of “The Office” with plenty of new tidbits to look out for.
Peter Jackson is also famous for re-releasing the “Lord of the Rings” films with hours of new footage. All told, the extended version runtime total of the trio of movies is 12 hours and 6 minutes — that’s nearly 3 hours of never-before-seen scenes. (And fans still want an even longer Mithril edition.) Jackson provides so much extra material that the extended editions take on a new life of their own. Thanks to the extra footage, the narratives of some of the movies, like “The Two Towers,” become significantly easier to follow.
Zack Snyder is another well-known extra-footage personality. The desire to see his unfinished business behind the camera even led to the call for a complete overhaul of the original “Justice League” movie. The “Justice League” Snyder cut did become a reality, but only after it was given a shot in the arm by DC fans’ obsessive need to see what could have been. A massive campaign was fueled by the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Warner Bros. eventually buckled under the pressure and invested $70 million in creating a workable new version of Snyder’s original vision.
While deleted scenes and extended editions can create fun new experiences for fan bases, they can also backfire. In the case of Snyder’s passion project, the retooled film didn’t have the same impact as was hoped. In hindsight, Warner Bros. reportedly regretted releasing the Snyder cut since it didn’t satisfy fan expectations.
