New Film Trend: 3 - Hour + Films

Films over the years have been long but kept within a certain runtime, more or less. Even though masterpieces like The Godfather Part II (1974) and Gone With The Wind (1939) have both been 3 hours or more, there wasn't a noticeable trend year after year of films being longer and longer.

Until...

Avengers: Endgame (2019) was one of 2 noticeable films that had a runtime of over 3 hours. The super blockbuster finale to the blockbuster franchise that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film went on to become the most profitable film of all time beating its predecessor, James Cameron's Avatar 2009. That is until Avatar (2009) was re-released in China earlier this year, and reclaimed its top spot.

Endgame is the second part of a two-part film that chronicles the Avengers and their fight against Thanos. Endgame recorded over 289 million views in its first 24 hours. Theatrical release. This feat is impressive for several reasons but mainly because it highlighted a crucial plot point in the new culture of moviegoers. It was now proven without a shadow of a doubt that people can watch a 3-hour film in cinemas and love it. Not just some, but everybody. With blockbusters like these being able to set trends and be the thought leaders in some aspect of selling and presenting a film, it sets a possible precedent for other films and filmmakers. "Now I can put out a film that's over 3 hours long and know that if it's good enough, people can and will watch it." Is one of the many thoughts flying around with filmmakers.

"How do I get people to watch my 3 hour + film?"

The MCU is stacked with various A-list actors left and right. Their films market themselves. Their biggest problem will be trying to fit all their actors into a marketing scheme for the film. Drop a poster with only a quarter of the actors involved ( which is what they did) and boom! People love it!

Is this a new wave of films in what surely is a new golden age of cinema? The world is opening up to many more films, both foreign and domestic. Drawing inspirations from each other to produce new and exciting films. But what if, 5 years from now we have films that are 5 hours? or more? Streaming services like HBO Max have already broken the 4 - hour mark with yet ANOTHER comic book film.

A director's vision come to life. Drowned by tragedy and brought to life by the will of the people, Zack Snyder's Justice League was a myth before and now it is a myth no more. The film has just released on HBO Max for everyone to stream. The 4-hour runtime has deterred very little people from watching as it is a streamer so you can pause anytime you like.

Comic Book films are now at the centre of this new golden age, with their films dominating the box office, whether they are bad or good. The after-effects of such a film are up for debate as they can go in several different ways. One. This could, and most probably will, inspire other filmmakers to create their own long films and pitch them to streaming services.

While at the current moment, streaming services won't see the benefit of pouring resources into a film that will likely take more than 200 days to shoot with the cost of paying the actors and the upkeep of the large crew which would only be costlier in these covid-19 times where social distancing is essential. Two. This could become a precedent for comic book films and their finales. Marvel could just as well end their next phase of inter-connected films with another 3 hour long blockbuster.

However, the fun isn't just restricted to the realm of comic book films. Even the man who called them "amusement park films" made his very own 3 hour streamer for none other that Netflix.

Martin Scorcese's The Irishman tells the story of mob hitman, Frank Sheeran played by longtime collaborator, Robert De Niro. The like of Joe Pesci and Al Pacino help to form a trinity of leading actors at the top of a heap of celebrated actors all of whom are in this film.

Why The Irishman? What makes this film so impactful to the topic at hand?

Simple. While comic book films do draw in the crowds and make the money, they still have a hard time cracking the awards for films. With the exception of the Dark Knight Trilogy. The Irishman however, does not have that issue. Scorcese is a long time favourite of The Academy, and all three of the leads in this film have won Oscars. This makes them prime contenders to get nominated and even win.

Sure enough, both Pesci and Pacino got nominated. While they didn't win, they did however start the clock. It's only a matter of time before these types of films start winning big awards. From 2019 - 2021, 3 major blockbusters have all been released at over 3 hours long. They have each topped the box office, gotten nominations from various prestigious film awards and now the latest one ZSJL, has been willed into existence by a loyal and relentless fanbase. It could do no wrong and it comes in at a whopping 4 hours.

What does this mean for films going forward? HBO Max has a 4-hour film, Netflix has a 3 hour + film and soon Amazon Prime, Apple, Disney+, Hulu etc will all want a piece of that pie. Are we seeing the birth of a new era of filmmaking within a new era of filmmaking?

What are your thoughts on this? Is this just a blip in the radar of time, or are we seeing the baby waves of a potential tsunami? Comment below! Let's get talking.