Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Batman will be 3 hours long?


From darkhorizons, "Iron Man" should be fun, "Wall-E" touching, and who knows what to expect from the likes of "Hancock", "Wanted," "Caspian" or "Hulk".

Yet when polls and general chatter about this Summer's movies comes up, there are two which stand out far above the rest in terms of anticipation - "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "The Dark Knight".

Now it looks like both with also stand above the other films in terms of runtime as well. Hollywood Elsewhere reports that the new Indy clocks in at 140 minutes, easily beating the 127 minute runtime of "Last Crusade" in 1989. Composer John Williams confirms this as well, saying that the film has seven reels at about 20 minutes each.

Early screenings for the film are also being kept tight. The film has been screened only once so far for crew, and the studio gets to see it next week. After that, the only other screenings will be the premiere in Cannes (expected on the 20th) and press screenings in major international territories the week of release - at the earliest only 2-3 nights before the film's release on May 22nd.

Meanwhile early word on "The Dark Knight" is that Chris Nolan's cut clocks in at nearly three hours and it's unlikely to be cut down much further despite the studio's desire for a more manageable 150 minutes. Nolan's "Batman Begins" came in at 140 minutes so a slightly longer runtime for the sequel doesn't seem surprising and the immaculately conceived Devin Faraci over at CHUD thinks that, and I tend to agree, it'll probably come in at about 165 mins.

Responses to the articles have been interesting in that many seem surprisingly concerned about the Indy runtime, yet have absolutely no problem with a three-hour Batman. Very early buzz on Indy already warns to 'keep your expectations in check'.

3 comments:

JPX said...

From iwatchstuff, Like pretty much everyone on Earth, you probably have at least some desire to see the new Indiana Jones movie. But have you considered your plans immediately following and preceding the film? Should you force yourself to pee before it starts, or can you wait until afterwards? Get popcorn or hold out for a post-movie full meal? Get a babysitter or take a chance on the Starbucks staff letting your child continue sitting on that bench?

Of course you haven't thought these things; you'd need to know the approximate running time before you could make such crucial decisions! Well, dear readers, I've got it for you: 140 minutes or so, just under Grandma's limit for staying in the car.

Some people are already saying 140 minutes sounds a bit long for the typically-shorter adventure series. I disagree; this is totally going to be the best running time ever. What are your entirely speculative thoughts on the length of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Oh brother. I don't know if I can handle a 3 hour Batman. Is an hour of it going to be spent with him training again? = rental

Indy can be as long or as short as they feel. I don't care, I already love it unconditionally.

Octopunk said...

Hey, if it's all good stuff I say make it as long as you want.

I've made several comments that the following are tired devices and don't work: 1. origin stories and 2. studies into the dual nature of superheroics (in fact I just said that on the Hulk post five minutes ago). But Batman Begins makes me wrong on both counts, it's got no fat on it in my opinion. Three hours is a long movie but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm actually more excited about Batman than Indy.

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