Remember when an over two hour movie was rare, and probably some kind of epic? VHS stores everywhere were full of 90 minute wonders.
An over two hour movie must have something big and important to say!
Then it all started to change. Now, we have sci-fi action movies and thrillers nudging the three hour mark.
Clare Binns, the BAFTA award-winning creative director of the UKs Picturehouse Cinemas has noticed, and on behalf of cinema owners everywhere she would like it to stop.
In an interview with The Guardian she asks filmmakers to make films shorter in order to get more people into theaters.
Long run times limit the number of showings per day, and drive audiences to think about their bladders and decide to wait until the movie is released for home viewing.
“I talk to producers about this and say: ‘Tell the director you’re making the film for an audience, not the directors.
There’s always exceptions, but I look at a lot of films and think: ‘You could take 20 minutes out of that.’
There’s no need for films to be that long. I think it’s a wake-up call to directors. If they want their films in cinemas, people have to feel comfortable about what they’re committing to.”
Binns talked up the recovery of the industry after the pandemic, and sees signs of theaters remaining as a outlet with numbers up across the board.
However, she highlights the length of many movies these days as a real obstacle.
Even popcorn fare like Avatar: Fire and Ash clocks in at 195 minutes.
