Remember when movies were two hours long and that felt generous? Those days are gone. Modern blockbusters routinely clock in at 150 minutes or more, and nobody - not directors, not studios, not exhausted audiences - seems capable of pumping the brakes. The Hollywood Reporter dug into the data, and the numbers confirm what your bladder already knew: movies are getting longer, and it's becoming a problem.
The reasons are complex and reveal some uncomfortable truths about modern filmmaking. First, there's the director ego problem. Auteurs who've earned clout - Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino - can basically demand whatever runtime they want. Nobody's going to tell Scorsese to cut 40 minutes from Killers of the Flower Moon, even if a tighter cut might play better. These are artists with track records, and studios defer to their vision, sometimes to the film's detriment.
Then there's the streaming influence. When films are destined for Netflix or Apple TV+, runtime becomes less of an issue. Viewers can pause for bathroom breaks, split the film across multiple viewing sessions, or just bail entirely if it drags. Theatrical economics - where longer runtimes mean fewer daily screenings and lost ticket sales - don't apply. So directors get used to bloat, and suddenly we're watching three-hour superhero movies that could've been two.
Speaking of superheroes, the Marvel and DC effect can't be ignored. Franchise filmmaking encourages longer runtimes because there's always another subplot to service, another cameo to squeeze in, another post-credits scene to set up the next installment. Avengers: Endgame was three hours long because it had to wrap up a decade of storytelling. The Batman was nearly three hours because Matt Reeves wanted a slow-burn detective story. Are these films better at that length? Debatable. But they make money, so the trend continues.
