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If there’s one true fact about cinema in 2023, it’s that movies are definitely getting longer. Versions like Bo afraidwhich will be released soon OppenheimerAnd Moonflower Killers They push their uptimes to the limit. While the theme may justify it for certain films, you’ll notice that even films that offer popcorn entertainment run so long that they make you wonder if spending more time in the editing room has done them some good.
Roger Ebert once said, “No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough.” If a movie grabs your attention and doesn’t seem like it’s dragging, runtime is rarely a factor. It’s all about engaging the audience and keeping them so glued to their seats that they forget how long the movie actually is.
However, this felt more private. Not every movie was clocked in at two and a half hours or more. The niche for a lot of movies has been between 90 and 120 minutes, which also depends on the genre. Most moviegoers don’t want a comedy or horror movie over the two-hour limit because the jokes start to fade, and the scares become repetitive.
It’s all a bit personal, but if it’s usually much shorter than that, viewers might feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth (let’s face it, going to the movies is expensive) but if it goes on longer, viewers might start to get anxious. When going to the movies, most brains are trained to expect two hours unless you are going to watch something based on that Harry Potter or Lord of the rings. You expect a long runtime for some but not for everything.
Long movie running times have been a growing trend for over a year
A little further back in the year 2022, movies were seeing astronomical runtimes. Avatar: Water Road Recorded in 192 minutes, Babylon Old Hollywood debauchery took to 188 minutes, and Batman He gave fans a superhero noir in 176 minutes. In wondering if any of these runtimes are justified, consider whether these films need time to build in a world that consumes you and separates you from your current state of reality.
The visual beauty of water way The 192 minutes can be justified as a nice escape into a world of wonder beyond our imagination. when it comes to b BabylonIt could be argued that Damien Chazelle’s story of obscene excess could have cut a little fat and been more accessible to the public. Budgeted at $78 million, could a shorter running time have allowed the film to gross over $15.3 million at the domestic box office?
Batman He is also in an interesting position. On the one hand, it’s a movie adaptation of a comedy, but on the other hand, it’s made as a more cohesive noir thriller. It was more than just a comedy, and given its global haul of $770.9 million, the runtime wasn’t an issue for most audiences that watched it.
The Prestige films are set in the year 2023 in their runtimes, with most of them being helmed by directors who cut what is necessary but who simply won’t do so to make the film shorter. Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer Just around the corner and it says about 180 minutes. It is possible that the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in developing the atomic bomb cannot be told in 90 or 120 minutes without reducing the story. In this case, a runtime of 180 minutes might be warranted.
It may not be possible to make an argument similar to something like Ari Aster’s Bo afraid, released earlier this year. This movie is just shy Oppenheimer The running time is at 179 minutes, and some reviews of the movie might point out that it doesn’t need to be that long. It’s certainly Aster’s vision, and A24 gave the director complete control over making the movie he wanted to make, but for a movie like this, one that pushes the viewer’s patience, the long running time can feel punishing.
Aster fans will be home for the entire 179 minutes, but casual viewers may find themselves checking the time or taking several bathroom breaks.
Martin Scorsese takes over the novel Moonflower Killers, a book engraved over 352 pages. The movie has a running time of 206 minutes and is an investment for any cinema visitor. Most movie fans won’t care about this.
It’s Scorsese again teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. It’s also based on a book that readers say has too many nuances to just ignore. With this runtime, Scorsese has probably covered all of his bases, so fans of the book and fans of his talent as a director will be delighted. For those who don’t want to put up with playtime, the movie will finally be available on Apple TV+ for pausing as you see fit.
Even Popcorn Entertainment has been in business for a bit too long
We’re now in a period where almost every movie seems long at this point. Even mindless entertainment popcorn. an act X is fast Really need 130 minutes? At a certain point, all actions start to look the same. Many of the superhero movies this year are also scoring big runtimes.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (139 minutes), Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse (140 minutes), and the light (135 minutes) They’ve gone too far. In case via spider-verseIt is the longest-running animated film ever produced by an American studio. Nobody ever dreamed of making an animated feature film in the past. With its strong box office run, audiences don’t seem to care, so it’s another example of a decent runtime sometimes, but for some other projects it’s just not a move.
With more feature films on the horizon, this trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part 1 It’ll make us watch Tom Cruise do death-defying stunts for 163 minutes, and audiences will, for the most part, be delighted with the idea.
There is something to look out for if this trend is to continue. Moviegoers are becoming more specific about the way they spend their time. It might become less and less likely that they would spend their unofficial 160 minutes in the theater, which could ultimately hurt the box office in the long run.
If the long runtime warrants the story, go for it. If the edits aren’t made just to show off the filmmaker’s ego, maybe someone should come in and keep them in check for a bit. Maybe it’s time to go back to the times when epic runtimes felt eventful rather than mundane.
