We have seen movies like Lawrence of Arabia (216 minutes), and The Irishman (209 mins), and we also have seen shorter-length movies like Borat (87 mins) or Before Sunset (80 mins). Have you ever thought of the ideal movie running time? That’s what a research poll has done.
Poll Claims the Ideal Movie Running Time
Representative image | Image Credit: Houses Cheung/Unsplash/Canva
A new study by Talker Research has revealed that American audiences have a sweet spot when it comes to movie length: 92 minutes. This is according to a survey conducted online in April 2024 with over 2,000 participants.
Among those surveyed, only a small fraction, just two percent, believed that a movie should be longer than two and a half hours. Most respondents thought 92 minutes—a little over an hour and a half—was the “ideal average length.” Additionally, only 15 percent of participants preferred movies that lasted two hours or longer. Twenty-three percent admitted that, in the past 60 days, they had “reluctantly sat through three or more movies that they felt were too long.“
The research identified five movies that met the ideal runtime of 92 minutes. These films are:
- Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
- Kung Fu Panda (2008)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Monsters Inc. (2001)
- Toy Story 2 (1999)
In addition to film length, the study also explored opinions on subtitles in movies. Seventy-seven percent of participants said watching with or without subtitles at home was a “total non-issue.” However, 15 percent noted it as a “hotly debated topic in their household.” Interestingly, younger generations were found to be more likely to “always” watch movies with subtitles.
However, a study by What to Watch indicated a trend toward longer movies. In 2022, the average running time for commercially successful films was 141 minutes, compared to 110 minutes in 1981.
This data seems to contradict the 92-minute preference, especially considering that nine out of the ten highest-grossing films of all time run over two hours, with three—Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic—lasting more than three hours each. The only film in the top ten that runs under two hours is the 2019 remake of The Lion King, which is 118 minutes long.
The “perfect” movie length remains a topic of debate. While many respondents prefer shorter movies, commercial successes tend to be on the longer side, showing that preferences and box office trends might not always align.
Martin Scorsese is Obsessed with Longer Movies
Martin Scorsese and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Image Credit: Apple TV+
Seeing the running time of Martin Scorsese’s movies running time, it seems like he just loves making a film that runs for a longer time.
Scorsese who has been making films for the last five decades earned a reputation and that essentially brought the funding for his films, though it’s very unlikely for the majority of directors to gather funds to make a longer movie.
If we look at his filmography, we can see many films that are too long, but it’s Scorsese, so audiences expect something bigger narrative and thus they keep sitting.
Following are some of the movies by Scorsese and the running time:
- The Departed – 151 minutes
- The Last Temptation Of Christ – 164 minutes
- Gangs of New York – 168 minutes
- Casino – 179 minutes
- The Wolf of Wall Street – 180 minutes
- Killers Of The Flower Moon – 206 minutes
- The Irishman – 210 minutes
And, Scorsese has always defended this long running time. His recent movie Killers of the Flower Moon starring Leonardo DiCaprio faced a little bit of criticism for its length. But he in an interview with The Hindustan Times found it hard to digest audiences’ logic.
“People say it’s three hours, but come on,” Scorsese said. “You can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours. Also, there are many people who watch theatre for 3.5 hours. There are real actors on stage, you can’t get up and walk around. You give it that respect, give cinema some respect.”
And, if we look at the success rate of the aforementioned movies, those were both critical and commercial hits. So, Scorsese, contradicting the poll’s claim, proved that, it is more about the quality of the content, most probably, rather than time!
Just a fun fact here, if you have wondered, what is the longest movie ever made, it is Daniel Andersson and Erika Magnusson’s experimental Swedish film Logistics (2012). Logistics is the longest movie of all time, taking a whopping 857 hours, that translates into 35 days to end.
