Audiences Hate Long Movies And Are Thrilled To See One Thing Return To Theaters
According to an article posted by The Guardian, moviegoers in the UK are excited to see the return of “intermission” during longer films. Movie intermissions were a common thing in UK cinemas until the early 80s, and increased movie runtimes are driving cinemagoers back towards old practices.
Moviegoers Welcome Intermissions Back To The Theaters
The growing trend of longer film runtimes (as seen in this year’s Killer of the Flower Moon) seems to be a part of the problem theaters are facing when working to once again fill seats in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the rise of streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney+.
People don’t want to sit in one place (especially a place where cell phone use is discouraged) for two to three hours without a break. Other events like live theater and sporting events have break times built into the schedule. Why not add movie intermission to film theaters?
Movies Are Longer Than Ever Before
In just the last 12 months in film, Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, Oppenheimer, and Killers of the Flower Moon all had run times of longer than three hours. Killers of the Flower Moon alone was nearly three and a half hours long.
A UK cinema chain called Vue incorporated a 15-minute movie intermission into the screening of Killers of the Flower Moon and audiences loved the chance to use the restroom and stretch their legs halfway through the film.
Chief executive of Vue theaters, Tim Richards, talked about how the cinema’s recent market analysis showed that moviegoers would enjoy the comeback of intermission times during screenings. So far, Richards says that the company is receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from most people who have tried the theater’s intermission-incorporated shows.
Richards was inspired to reinstate movie intermission after a handful of UK theaters utilized the respite time during recent Oppenheimer showings. Given that the intermission trials have gone exceedingly well overall, Richards hopes to offer intermissions during films more frequently moving forward.
Martin Scorsese Defends Long Movie Runtimes
While The Holdovers director Alexander Payne publicly criticized long movie runtimes at the Middleburg Film Festival in the U.S., stating that Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon could have benefited from a “tighter edit,” Martin Scorsese had other views on the subject.
Scorsese seems to feel like a movie intermission or criticism of long runtimes shouldn’t be an issue if people can sit in front of the television and watch something for five hours. Scorsese spoke of how people should “give cinema some respect.”
Lengthy Films Have Been Box Office Hits Over The Years
While long films (without movie intermission) have historically been great moneymakers (The Lord of the Rings, Titanic, or The Godfather II), movie runtimes, on average, have made a significant jump over the past few years.
Movie Runtimes Significantly Increased In 2023
In 1981, the average runtime of the top 10 movies was 110 minutes. In 2021, the average was 131 minutes. In 2022, that average jumped to 141 minutes, making it unsurprising that audiences are longing for a break during screenings.
While no one believes that adding movie intermission will magically reverse the effects of the post-pandemic malaise of movie theaters, it could help get theaters back on track for future success.
