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The First Cut of ‘Anchorman 2’ Was More Than Four Hours Long

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Director Adam McKay shot so much extra footage for “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” — including multiple alternate takes for nearly every joke and every scene — that the first cut of the film was four and a half hours long.

That’s what McKay told ScreenCrush in a new interview promoting the upcoming release of the hotly-anticipated sequel to 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” McKay said subsequent cuts shaved the movie down to three hours and then to two and a half, before finally settling in right around two hours for the soon-to-be-finished film.

Of course, all that editing means many jokes won’t see the light of day, but the director doesn’t want that to happen. McKay said he’s mulling over cutting a completely new version of the film that still keeps the plot, but uses all the alternate takes and extra jokes in place of the originals, essentially telling two different versions of the same story. Right now, McKay and co. are mulling releasing the second version in theaters after “Anchorman 2” opens, but want to make sure audiences would be interested before forging ahead with any concrete release strategy.

“If someone told me it was ‘Pulp Fiction’ will all new story turns and new Sam Jackson monologues, there’s no way I’m not going to see that,” McKay told ScreenCrush. “The question is, does Paramount release that in the theaters? Is it midnight screenings or just VOD and DVD?”

Regardless of where “Anchorman” fans can expect to see that alternate reality movie, McKay said there’s only way to sum up what it will entail.

“More crazy sh*t,” he said.

Sounds like kind of a big deal. For more from the director and his editor, Brent White, check out the full interview over at ScreenCrush.

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is due out on December 20.

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