 In total, of film was edited down to the 686 minutes (11 hours and 26 minutes) of extended edition running time.This was the final area of shaping of the films, when Jackson realized that sometimes the best scripting could be redundant on screen, as he picked apart scenes every day from multiple takes.The first film's editing was relatively easygoing, with Jackson coming up with the concept of an extended edition later on, although after a screening to New Line they had to re-edit the beginning for a prologue.