The Les Miserables movie clocks in at a lengthy 2 hours and 37 minutes, but at first assembly the film was just under four hours in length.

So is an extended version a possibility? Director Tom Hooper recently addressed the question.

In an interview with Colldier, Hooper explained one of the biggest challenges in getting the film down to its final version: the songs. “If we were singing you can’t just stick your knife in, you can’t take a second out here a second out there a sentence out there because the musical construction falls all over the place. And I realized in the end that the only way I could get it down any more, and I was very committed to getting it down to 2:30, was to try to become more expert at the detail of musical construction so that I could really understand in terms of bars what was possible and what was not possible.”

So with lots of material still available from that original four hour version, would he like to release an extended version? “I used to think definitely I would do a longer version, [but] having been through the oil tanker that this thing is, to wrestle it to where we got it, I’m aware that the moment you go, ‘let’s go back in’ it’s not a simple process,” he explained. “But let’s see how it goes and if we feel there’s tremendous demand I’d always consider it. It’s difficult because at the same time I feel that I’ve paced it as I wanted it to be paced and do I want to put out in a world a less well paced version? I’m not sure. If there’s interest in the community of fans of the musical then I would definitely consider it.”

Hardcore fans who love the musical in its various forms would probably welcome a Les Miserables Extended Edition, but one of the more common complaints about the film is that it’s a bit long. Thus, the average moviegoer would likely not be interested in the additional songs and scenes. We imagine the studio may put some pressure on him to do it given the box office success and the franchise’s passionate audience.

Would you like to see a ‘Les Miserables’ Extended Edition?

The musical movie opened on Christmas Day.