With releases like Killers of the Flower Moon (206 minutes) and Oppenheimer (180 minutes), you can’t have failed to notice that films are getting longer. The average length of films increases by a few minutes every year. Of this year’s 10 biggest releases, the average running time was 139 minutes. Yet the tide seems to be turning.
The Marvels is the shortest film in MCU history with a running time of ‘only’ 105 minutes. By comparison: Marvel’s biggest movie hit Avengers: Endgame (2019) lasted 181 minutes.
Duration record
Director of The MarvelsNia LaCosta, recently said that it was a conscious decision to keep the film under two hours: “I just feel like there’s no need to make it long if you don’t have to, because an hour and a half is pretty average for a movie.”
The budget for The Marvels was very high at around $220 million for the short running time. The film also takes the record for the most expensive per minute film release with a running time of under two hours.
New trend
It was striking that two major releases this year had a relatively short playing time. The grandly announced Barbie lasted 114 minutes. And also The Super Mario Bros. Movie was quite short with only 92 minutes of running time.
However, we still have to wait and see until more directors and studios adopt the trend and follow the trend of shorter films. Until then, just enjoy some nice long blockbusters.
