๐ฝ Cinemas Suffer from Overlong Films
Picturehouse Cinemas creative director Claire Binns stated that bloated runtimes of new releases have become a serious problem for theaters and audiences.
Speaking after receiving a BAFTA award for contribution to British cinema, she urged filmmakers to “cut the excess.”
According to Binns, 3-4 hour films allow theaters to show only one evening screening instead of two, hitting revenue hard.
Audiences struggle to commit to multi-hour marathons. She cited The Brutalist (215 minutes), which required an intermission.
“Most films could safely lose 20 minutes without losing meaning. Make films for audiences, not yourself,” Binns emphasized.
Despite criticism of runtimes and the “worrying” Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery deal, Binns remains confident in cinema’s future: “Cinema has been buried many times, but we’re still here.”