Let’s get back to the 18th century when English writers didn’t find the age; worthy enough for writing an epic. Thus, they wrote mock epics like “The Rape of the Lock”. But, you are not here for a literature class. Why are we telling you this?
Just to prove that our love for a few things transcends time even when age is unworthy. For instance, today it is absolutely impossible to write an epic like “Mahabharata” but the text is very very relevant even in this age.
Similarly, films like Titanic, Schindler’s List, Snyder Cut, Devdas, Mughal-e-Azam, and Mera Naam Joker are epics. Cinephiles across generations love these films that touch the mark of 3 hours.
But, do people expect today’s filmmakers to make movies of that length?
Let’s take the case of Napolean. It is made by the revered filmmaker Ridley Scott who has gems like Gladiator in his filmography. But, he simply couldn’t pull off Napoleon the way it should have been.
Well, a recent survey asked 2,000 Americans this question on ideal film length, and they said around 92 minutes is ideal. But does this match up with the movies we love watching?
The survey found that most people like movies that are about 92 minutes long. But only 15% are okay with movies that go over two hours, and just 2% like movies longer than two and a half hours. The age has no category that fits the above 3 Hours slot which is the style of several great filmmakers.
This might seem surprising when you look at the movies making the most money. Most of them are longer than two hours, with some even going past three hours. Only one of the top ten highest-grossing movies, “The Lion King” remake from 2019, is under two hours.
But the debate over movie length got a lot of attention recently. Some theaters stopped long movies like “Killers of the Flower Moon” halfway through for a break, even though the director, Martin Scorsese, thinks long movies deserve respect.
Despite what the survey says, movies are actually getting longer. Research shows that successful movies these days are around 141 minutes long, compared to 110 minutes back in 1981. This is because of streaming platforms, cool special effects, and exciting action scenes.
So, while the survey says most people like shorter movies, it seems like longer movies are still winning at the box office. And if people have enough time to watch the entire Breaking Bad universe then they can certainly watch long films.
There is something fundamentally different in the US theatre culture and it is that of intervals. They do not get interval breaks and thus a 3 hour long film makes them uncomfortable. We think if American theaters learn this thing from India then we can get more epics from Hollywood.
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