(Credit: Universal Pictures)
The Odyssey‘s runtime will clock in just under the three-hour mark. Despite still being fairly long, Christopher Nolan’s new movie’s runtime still feels a bit short.
Recently, AMC and IMAX theaters listed the official runtime for the film on their sites. With the news, we now know the movie will clock in at 2 hours and 53 minutes. That’s still pretty long, long enough to be Nolan‘s second-longest movie, but does come in just under the three-hour mark that Nolan had previously talked about it being. The news isn’t surprising, but given the scale of the movie and how Nolan has talked about the movie, does feel a bit surprising nonetheless.
The Odyssey feels like it should be longer, but will still benefit
Nolan has spoken before about the scale and grand nature of his upcoming movie. The movie covers one of the most well-known Greek mythological tales of all time, and as such, Nolan has packed a lot in it. Speaking to 60 Minutes, Nolan called the movie “the biggest film” he’s ever done, and said that it was challenging for all involved.
On that note, it is a bit disappointing the movie clocks in under the length of a movie like Oppenheimer. Accounting for credits and all, The Odyssey’s actual runtime could be a bit shorter than the 2 hours and 53 minutes listed. Of course, a nearly three-hour movie is still a good bit of time, but many had anticipated the movie being a bit longer given the grand nature of it.
However, the shorter runtime does present itself as good news in a couple of ways. While many might want an incredibly long epic based on the legendary Odyssey text, on the more practical side, the shorter the movie is, the more it can play in theaters, meaning from a box office standpoint, the film could generate much more money. A movie by Christopher Nolan is guaranteed to be a box office draw no matter what, but getting to play in as many time slots as possible is no doubt something both Nolan and Universal Pictures have taken into consideration.
Nolan has also proven to be adept at telling stories at a number of different runtimes. Some of his best movies, including projects like The Prestige and Memento, have clocked in at just under or over two hours long, and been some of the best-received films of his career. While a three-plus-hour epic does sound great on paper, Nolan clearly knows what he’s doing here, so it feels fine trusting him no matter the length of a movie.
Originally written by Anthony Nash at Coming Soon
