A Vanity Fair article from last year compared the top twenty US box office performers of 2022 to those of 2002. He found that, on average, the 2022 films were 13 minutes longer than the 2002 films. Maybe those years seem arbitrarily chosen, and the twenty movie sample size is a little small for your taste, but to me the statistic was a nice illustration of how popular movies may have changed in a twenty-year period. To the writer, however, it meant that “moviegoers had to sit through” an additional 13 minutes of screentime, as though we have no say in the movie theater tickets we buy.

On the contrary, the top box office performers are the films people specifically chose to watch over all others. Who knows how long the non-highest grossing films were? They very well might have been shorter! As Table 2 shows us below, the next twenty greatest box office performers (21-40) are i) shorter in runtime than the first twenty, and ii) see a decrease in average runtime from 2002 to 2022. If anything, the more valid takeaway is that filmmakers had to produce an additional 13 minutes of footage to keep audiences interested than the other way around.

Table 1: Movie Runtimes of the 20 Highest Grossers of 2002 vs 2022
Before (2002) After (2022)
Number of Movies 20 20
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 81 87
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 116.0 129.6
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 110.5 125.5
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 179 192
Table 2: Movie Runtimes of the 21st-40th Highest Grossers of 2002 vs 2022
Before (2002) After (2022)
Number of Movies 20 20
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 83 100
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 114.3 113.4
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 116 109
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 167 139

This passive framing of moviegoers (of us) that accompanies the “movies are getting longer” discourse is what urks me. Even industry insiders are guilty of it, as producer David T. Friendly (Little Miss Sunshine) voiced his frustrations online over the length of recent Oscar-nominated movies and called for filmmakers to trim their movies. He obviously knows the industry more than I do, but why point to the filmmakers while not asking anything of the Academy members (himself included) who nominated long films over shorter ones (e.g. Fallen Leaves, All of Us Strangers, Bottoms, etc.)? Asking for longer movies to be shortened when we are not even watching or rewarding the shorter ones feels hypocritical, to say the least.

Since I take issue with others’ interpretations on movie runtime data and I have 26K rows of scraped IMDb data sitting in my laptop, why not explore the topic myself.

Questions of Interest

The question “are movies getting longer?” could use some refining. The more precise question I’ll be answering is: do mainstream movies now have a greater runtime than before?

Confession: I don’t care about movie runtime in itself. To me, an increase in runtime would merely be a symptom of a deeper, more conscious change in Hollywood. One such change I wish to explore is the decline of mid-budget movies, and mid-budget comedies in particular. Another recent trend is all the superheroes and I.P.-based Action movies that have dominated theater screens since the advent of the MCU. If the Comedies are shorter in runtime than the Action movies - which they are - then a drop in Comedy and rise in Action among mainstream movies would naturally result in an increase in runtime. So, are Action movies now more present among mainstream movies than before? Are Comedies now less present among mainstream movies than before? Also, have Action and Comedy movies gotten longer? Whatever changes are found, they must not have come from a vacuum. Box office successes (and failures) of the past are likely to have informed recent movie studio decision-making, leading me to also ask: Before, were Action movies more present among mainstream movies than Comedy movies? Were Action movies longer than Comedy movies?

Finally, since the blockbuster and mid-budget films are mentioned to have evolved differently from each other, the analysis is conducted on the two groups separately. The final list of questions asked is thus:

1. Are movies getting longer

  1. Are blockbusters getting longer? Skip to Result.
  2. Are mid-budget movies getting longer? Skip to Result.
  3. Are Action movies getting longer? Skip to Result.
  4. Are non-Action Comedy movies getting longer? Skip to Result.

2. Are longer movie types becoming more common than before, and shorter movie types less common

  1. Are Action movies more present among Blockbusters now than before? Skip to Result.
  2. are non-Action Comedies less present among Blockbusters now than before? Skip to Result.
  3. Are Action movies more present among mid-Budget movies now than before? Skip to Result.
  4. are non-Action Comedies less present among mid-Budget movies now than before? Skip to Result.

3. Before — what movies were preferred and how long were they

  1. Among top box office performers, Were Action movies more present than non-Action Comedies? Skip to Result.
  2. Among mid box office performers, Were Action movies more present than non-Action Comedies? Skip to Result.
  3. Were Action movies longer than non-Action Comedies? Skip to Result.
  4. Were the top box office performers longer than the mid box office performers? Skip to Result.

To learn how certain parameters were defined, explanation here.

Results

  • Blockbuster Movies got 6 minutes longer: The biggest budget films of each year did get longer, on average, by 6 minutes.
Table 3: Movie Runtimes of the yearly Top 50 Highest Budget films — 2009-2015 vs 2016-2022 (excluding 2020)
Before (2009-2015) After (2016-2022)
Number of Movies 350 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 81 82
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 115.0 121.1
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 113 119
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 180 242
  • Mid-Budget Movies barely got longer: These movies saw a slight increase of 2 minutes in average runtime.
  • Current Action vs Comedy trends:
    • Action: Studios now make 5% more Blockbuster and 5% more Mid-Budget movies that are Action than before (62% vs 57% and 38% vs 33%).
    • Non-Action Comedy: Studios now make 7% fewer Blockbuster and 9% fewer Mid-Budget movies that are non-Action Comedies than before. This means the Mid-Budget movies went from having as many Action movies as non-Action Comedies in 2009-2015 to having 14% more Action movies than non-Action Comedies in 2016-2022.
    • Movie types themselves are getting longer: Action movies are 6 minutes longer now and non-Action Comedies are 3 minutes longer, on average.
  • Past Moviegoer Preferences:
    • Highest-grossing movies were 6 minutes longer than the next-highest-grossing movies.
    • Highest-grossing movies had more Action flicks than non-Action Comedies (45% vs 33%).
    • Next-highest grossing movies had fewer Action flicks than non-Action Comedies (28% vs 38%).

Limitations

Generalizing Blockbuster and Mid-Budget films

The fifty highest budget and the next fifty highest budget films are grouped as Blockbuster and Mid-Budget films, respectively, even though there could be high variation in budget within the two groups. Second, the variation itself may change over time, meaning the fifty highest budget films could represent a different proportion of Hollywood expenses in 2009 than in 2016. That is, if a movie studio’s strategy changes from making a few midsize movies per year to one huge movie, then perhaps the definition for a Blockbuster should change accordingly and cover fewer movies now than before.

Generalizing movie types

My way of defining movie types (Action and Non-Action Comedy) was broad. The comedies considered in our analysis range from slapstick comedies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop to Oscar-bait comedic dramas. Surely these are not the same type of movie. Even Action encompasses a variety of films, from The Angry Birds Movie to Dunkirk to The Angry Birds Movie 2.

Bigger budget does not necessarily mean theatrical release

My assumption that higher budget movies are more likely to play in theaters may not hold for all movies, especially in today’s streaming era. This was made evident by a Hollywood Reporter article, in which actor Glen Powell is quoted saying he and Anyone But You (2023) co-star and producer Sydney Sweeney turned down bigger budgets from streamers in order to give their romantic comedy a proper theatrical release.

No 2023 Data

The most recent data I have is of 2022, meaning I’m missing a full year of the most recent movies (2023). One year doesn’t sound so bad, but the analysis is meant to explore a recent trend so it would’ve been nice to have the most recent data.

Dashboard Plug

The results of the analysis are specific to how Blockbuster and Mid-Budget films were defined, and to the time periods used for the ‘Before’/‘After’ analysis. Other approaches to a movie runtime investigation could be perfectly valid, which is why I built a dashboard letting you explore the IMDb movie runtime data how you wish. With the tool, you can see how movie runtime varies over time and by genre or production company. You can also filter the movie data based on release year, budget, box office gross, director and other characteristics. Please note, however, that as in any analysis, be aware of what movies you’re including (or excluding) and how they affect your interpretations. All the plots and tables in this post were produced using the dashboard.

Summary

Comedies and Action ficks

They were never the biggest box office performers, but comedies performed nonetheless. They were even more common among mid-budget films than Action movies were. This is no longer the case, as the 2+ hour MCU, DCU, Kong, Jumanji, and all other Action-y franchises became an even bigger part of the recent years’ mainstream films.

These findings are consistent with the idea that studios are relying on superheroes and other I.P.-based “amusement park” movies to draw us out from our streaming services-infused homes. Streaming services, as Matt Damon explains, also led to the death of DVD sales and rentals, which had provided production companies a considerable extra cushion of revenue. If the convenience of at-home, on-demand entertainment and lack of DVD revenue leads production companies to adopt a “go big or go home” strategy for theater releases, then they might think to double down on the highest grossing movie types, which we saw were Action more than Comedy in 2009-2015. And since these Action films are generally longer than Comedies, then it makes sense mainstream movies are seeing an increase in runtime.

In addition, though, Action films themselves are getting longer in runtime - also by a 6 minutes average. One explanation is related to the second limitation: there are various subtypes of Action movies, so perhaps longer-running subtypes have become more frequent than before, thereby increasing the average runtime for all Action movies. Post-credit scenes, which are now a commonplace element of franchise movies, may also be responsible for a small increase in average runtime.

Closing thoughts

We used to be a country that watched 100-minute-long Comedy movies in a Cineplex Odeon theater. From 2009 to 2015, we had two Grown Ups and three Hangover films grace our cinemas, all of which were between 100 and 102 minutes in runtime, and made $200 to $550 million each. The year 2011 saw two Rom Coms called No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits grace our theaters; they shared the same exact premise and yet both grossed $150 million worldwide each. Now, Adam Sandler movies go straight to Netflix, The Hangover director is onto his second Joker film, and Romantic Comedies… go straight to Netflix (or Hulu, Prime, and so on).

Can non-Action movies make a theatrical comeback? According to a survey conducted by The Cinema Foundation, people want to watch more comedies in theaters. Anyone But You’s box office success is evidence of this sentiment, and we’ve since seen other producers choose theatrical releases over a big Netflix cheque. Moreover, in his Academy Award acceptance speech for writing American Fiction, Cord Jefferson called out studios’ blockbuster-obsessed nature and advocated “Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 10 $20 million movies”. He was met with applause but who knows how earnest. In the meantime, we can go out and enjoy one of the fewer - but still present - shorter movies released in theaters. Maybe you can watch two since they’re so short.

Appendix

A1: Defining ‘Mainstream’, distinguishing between ‘Mid-Budget’ and ‘Blockbuster’, and choosing our ‘Before’ and ‘Now’ periods

Mainstream

I’d consider mainstream movies to be the most accessible to the average moviegoer. The IMDb-provided variable that is most related to accessibility (in my opinion) is movie budget. That is, the greater the budget of a movie, the more I’d expect it to be given a wide theatrical release and be part of “the mainstream culture”. Since there are about 100 movies released in theaters per year (according to statista), I define mainstream movies as those among the top 100 budget films of their given release year.

Blockbuster vs Mid-Budget

To obtain an even split from the 100 Mainstream movies, I define the top 50 budget films of each year as Blockbuster films and the next 50 as Mid-Budget films. That is, for every year considered in the analysis, the hundred movies with the highest budgets will be included. Of those hundred, the fifty with the highest budget will be treated as Blockbusters and the remaining fifty will be treated as Mid-Budget.

‘Before’ and ‘Now’

The ‘Before’ period is set to be the years 2009 to 2015. I think these years represent the start of the MCU, from their very first hit in Iron Man (2009) (126 minutes) to their first Avengers films (143 and 141 minutes, respectively) in which standalone characters crossed over with each other, grossing billions of dollars and solidifying the ‘Universe’. This time also covers Netflix’s rise in popularity, and the start of streaming services original programming (which was both popular and critically acclaimed). The ‘Now’ period is 2016 to 2022, with 2020 excluded due to the outlier-like impact COVID-19 had on film that year. This era saw the peak of the MCU (181 minutes), the advent of so many other I.P.-based movie universes, and the ubiquity of streaming services.

A2: Results by question

1. Are Movies Getting Longer
a) Are blockbusters getting longer?
Table 3: Movie Runtimes of the yearly Top 50 Highest Budget films of 2009-2015 vs 2016-2022 (excluding 2020)
Before (2009-2015) After (2016-2022)
Number of Movies 350 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 81 82
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 114.9 121.2
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 113 119
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 180 242
b) Are mid-budget movies getting longer?
Table 4: Movie Runtimes of the yearly 51st-100th Highest Budget films of 2009-2015 vs 2016-2022 (excluding 2020)
Before (2009-2015) After (2016-2022)
Number of Movies 350 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 75 78
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 110.2 111.8
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 108.0 109.5
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 181 178
c) Are Action movies getting longer?
Table 5: Movie Runtimes of the top 50 highest budget Action films — 2009-2015 vs 2016-2022 (excluding 2020)
Before (2009-2015) After (2016-2022)
Number of Movies 350 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 79 78
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 113.4 118.6
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 111 117
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 165 242
d) Are Comedy movies getting longer?
Table 6: Movie Runtimes of the top 50 highest budget non-Action Comedy films — 2009-2015 vs 2016-2022 (excluding 2020)
Before (2009-2015) After (2016-2022)
Number of Movies 350 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 63 80
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 102.6 106.3
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 101 103
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 180 189
2. Are longer movie types becoming more common than before, and shorter movie types less common
a) Are Action movies more present among Blockbusters now than before?
b) are non-Action Comedies less present among Blockbusters now than before?
d) are non-Action Comedies less present among mid-Budget movies now than before?
d) are non-Action Comedies less present among mid-Budget movies now than before?
3. Before — what movies were preferred and how long were they
a) Among top box office performers, Were Action movies more present than non-Action Comedies?
b) Among mid box office performers, Were Action movies more present than non-Action Comedies?
c) Were Action movies longer than non-Action Comedies?
Table 7: Movie Runtimes of the top 50 highest budget Action vs non-Action Comedy films — 2009-2015
Group A (Action-less Comedies) Group B (Action flicks)
Number of Movies 300 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 80 78
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 106.3 118.6
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 103 117
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 189 242
d) Were the top box office performers longer than the mid box office performers?
Table 8: Movie Runtimes of the 1-50 highest grossing vs 51-100 highest grossing films — 2009-2015
Group A (Next-Highest Grossing) Group B (Highest Grossing)
Number of Movies 300 300
Shortest Movie Runtime (mins) 83 81
Mean Movie Runtime (mins) 111.8 117.5
Median Movie Runtime (mins) 108 115
Longest Movie Runtime (mins) 189 192