The population’s attention span is decreasing at an alarming rate and the world is being increasingly attracted to everything instant- instant coffee, instant solutions, and even instant entertainment. In such an age, will James Cameron’s five upcoming Avatar films that are much much longer than usual movie runtimes be received with the same patience in the coming years?
The 2009 ‘Avatar’ had a runtime of 3 hours and 2 minutes and ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ was 3 hours and 12 minutes long. While the breathtaking visuals are reason enough to spend hours in theatres for the maverick filmmaker’s vision, will things be the same say 5 years down the line? In this age where everyone is all about the 10-second TikTok videos and 20-second Instagram reels, is Cameron putting too much faith in his way of storytelling to entertain the audience?
Smart idea, creating half-a-day theatrical experiences to a generation raised on TikTok. 💀
— brownissance 🛠️ (@0xbrownissance) December 27, 2022
Audiences in theater watching Avatar 10 with the runtime of 12 hours and 15 minutes pic.twitter.com/PqigjXRN3F
— Ã (@lfcarif_) December 27, 2022
The filmmaker is reportedly thinking about creating a 2.5 hours version for the theatres and a longer 6 hours long version for the OTT platforms. While reducing the film’s theatrical runtime is a great way to turn things over, will he be successful in keeping true to the plan? It’s difficult enough to edit some things when the duration is much shorter. But what if you have 6 hours of film and want to shorten it to less than 3 hours? Deleting some scenes, and deciding what needs to be experienced in theatres, it’s safe to say that towards the end, the runtime most probably will be over 2.5 hours.
Delayed gratification is becoming scarce by the day. In this changing environment, Cameron needs to find new ways to keep the Avatar franchise in line with the people’s wants as well. 10 years back, people may have rushed into theatres to watch a 3-hour Cameron flick but now, simply saying not many have the patience and time. And if the film becomes somewhat disappointing, then the rejection may also be instant.
How long will Cameron dismiss this issue under the carpet? It is quite risky to make such big-budget films and dismiss that younger section of the audience who contributes a sizable amount to the collections. The displeasure is already showing, with the domestic market(US+ Canada) showing underwhelming collections. While this self-assuredness on Cameron’s part has worked with him in the past, it may prove a challenge in the coming years for the announced sequels.
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