10 Movies People Thought Were Too Long: ‘Wicked,’ the ‘Avatar’ Sequels and More

10 Movies People Thought Were Too Long: ‘Wicked,’ the ‘Avatar’ Sequels and More

two hours and 45 minutes,</a> and the pacing is very good.u201d</p>nnnn nt“Nobody who’s seen the movie has had any complaint,u201d Muschiettiadded.</p>n</div>”,”alt”:”‘It Chapter Two’”,”image_credit”:”Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection”,”url”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/”,”image_id”:1236424502,”image”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1024″,”sizes”:{“pmc-gallery-s”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=320″,”width”:320,”height”:206},”pmc-gallery-m”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=640″,”width”:640,”height”:411},”pmc-gallery-l”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=800″,”width”:800,”height”:514},”pmc-gallery-xl”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1024″,”width”:1024,”height”:658},”pmc-gallery-xxl”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1280″,”width”:1280,”height”:822}},”fullWidth”:895,”fullHeight”:575,”mime_type”:”image”,”ad”:””,”appleSongID”:null,”enableAppleGA”:false,”additionalDescription”:null,”subtitleColor”:null,”additionalSubtitle”:null,”additionalSubtitleColor”:null}],”galleryCount”:”10″,”galleryID”:”1236415367″,”previousPageLink”:””,”nextPageLink”:””,”template”:”item-featured-image”,”ordering”:”none”,”galleryTitle”:”10 Movies People Thought Were Too Long: u2018Wicked,u2019 the u2018Avataru2019 Sequels and More”,”isList”:”1″,”logo”:[],”i10n”:{“backToArticle”:”Back to Article”,”backToAllGalleries”:”Back to All Galleries”,”backToReview”:”Back to Review”,”backToAllReviews”:”Back to All Reviews”,”thumbnail”:”Thumbnails”,”nextSlide”:”Next Slide”,”prevSlide”:”Previous Slide”,”skipAd”:”Skip Ad”,”skipIn”:”Skip In”,”of”:”of”,”missingSomething”:”You’re missing…

two hours and 45 minutes,</a> and the pacing is very good.u201d</p>nnnn

nt“Nobody who’s seen the movie has had any complaint,u201d Muschiettiadded.</p>n</div>”,”alt”:”‘It Chapter Two'”,”image_credit”:”Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection”,”url”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/”,”image_id”:1236424502,”image”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1024″,”sizes”:{“pmc-gallery-s”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=320″,”width”:320,”height”:206},”pmc-gallery-m”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=640″,”width”:640,”height”:411},”pmc-gallery-l”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=800″,”width”:800,”height”:514},”pmc-gallery-xl”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1024″,”width”:1024,”height”:658},”pmc-gallery-xxl”:{“src”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MCDITCH_EC006.jpg?w=1280″,”width”:1280,”height”:822}},”fullWidth”:895,”fullHeight”:575,”mime_type”:”image”,”ad”:””,”appleSongID”:null,”enableAppleGA”:false,”additionalDescription”:null,”subtitleColor”:null,”additionalSubtitle”:null,”additionalSubtitleColor”:null}],”galleryCount”:”10″,”galleryID”:”1236415367″,”previousPageLink”:””,”nextPageLink”:””,”template”:”item-featured-image”,”ordering”:”none”,”galleryTitle”:”10 Movies People Thought Were Too Long: u2018Wicked,u2019 the u2018Avataru2019 Sequels and More”,”isList”:”1″,”logo”:[],”i10n”:{“backToArticle”:”Back to Article”,”backToAllGalleries”:”Back to All Galleries”,”backToReview”:”Back to Review”,”backToAllReviews”:”Back to All Reviews”,”thumbnail”:”Thumbnails”,”nextSlide”:”Next Slide”,”prevSlide”:”Previous Slide”,”skipAd”:”Skip Ad”,”skipIn”:”Skip In”,”of”:”of”,”missingSomething”:”You’re missing something!”,”subscribeNow”:”Subscribe Now”,”next”:”Next”,”nextGallery”:”Next Gallery”,”closeThisMessage”:”Close this message”,”closeModal”:”Close Modal”,”closeGallery”:”Close Gallery”,”startSlideShow”:”Start Slideshow”,”lightBox”:”Lightbox”,”scrollUp”:”Scroll Up”,”scrollDown”:”Scroll Down”,”look”:”Look”,”readMore”:”Read More”,”showLess”:”Show Less”,”vertical”:{“photo”:”Photo”}},”ads”:[],”adsProvider”:”boomerang”,”railBottomAdRefreshInterval”:”2″,”adhesionAdRefreshInterval”:”2″,”adAfter”:null,”listAdFrequency”:”1″,”socialIconsUseMenu”:”1″,”socialIcons”:{“facebook”:[],”twitter”:[],”pinterest”:[],”tumblr”:[]},”twitterUserName”:”thr”,”timestamp”:{“date”:”November 15, 2025, 8:15am”,”datetime”:”2025-11-15T08:15:00-08:00″},”showThumbnails”:””,”siteTitle”:”The Hollywood Reporter”,”siteUrl”:”/”,”pagePermalink”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/”,”enableInterstitial”:null,”interstitialAdAfter”:null,”zoom”:””,”pinit”:null,”sponsored”:””,”sponsoredStyle”:[],”runwayMenu”:[],”mobileCloseButton”:””,”galleryFetchUrl”:null,”styles”:{“header-height”:”79px”,”theme-color”:”var(–color-brand-primary)”,”vertical-album-image-margin-top”:”0″,”vertical-album-image-margin-right”:”1.25rem”,”vertical-album-image-margin-bottom”:”2.5rem”,”vertical-album-image-margin-left”:”0″,”vertical-headline-font-weight”:700,”vertical-caption-font-weight”:400,”vertical-subtitle-font-weight”:500,”vertical-player-font-weight”:500,”vertical-headline-font-family”:”var(–font-family-secondary)”,”vertical-caption-font-family”:”var(–font-family-body)”,”vertical-subtitle-font-family”:”inherit”,”vertical-player-font-family”:”inherit”,”vertical-max-image-width”:”inherit”,”horizontal-intro-card-font-family”:”var(–font-family-secondary)”},”forceSameEnding”:””,”subscriptionsLink”:””,”isMobile”:””,”listItemsPerPage”:”100″,”listItemStyles”:{“rankNumberStyle”:{“backgroundColor”:”transparent”,”color”:”var(–color-brand-primary)”},”videoPlayButtonStyle”:{“fill”:”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)”,”stroke”:”#000000″,”strokeWidth”:”4px”},”videoPlayButtonHoverStyle”:{“stroke”:”#ffffff”,”strokeWidth”:”4px”},”videoPlayButtonIconStyle”:{“fill”:”#ffffff”},”shareButtonStyle”:{“backgroundColor”:”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)”,”borderWidth”:”1px”,”borderColor”:”#444444″},”shareButtonIconStyle”:{“fill”:”#ffffff”},”paginationButtonStyle”:{“color”:”inherit”,”border”:”solid 1px #000″,”padding”:”10px 30px”,”fontWeight”:”700″}},”listNavBar”:{“minimumNumberOfItems”:20,”numberOfRangesAtMinWidth”:{“0″:5,”530″:7,”800″:10},”parentElementQuerySelector”:”.header-sticky .lrv-a-wrapper”,”parentElementStyle”:{“transition”:”margin 250ms ease-in”,”marginBottom”:”0″,”zIndex”:”9999″,”overflow”:”visible”},”containerElementAttributes”:{“id”:”pmc-gallery-list-nav-bar-container”,”className”:””,”style”:{“transition”:”opacity 500ms ease-in”,”position”:”absolute”,”top”:”100%”,”right”:”0″,”left”:”0″,”width”:”100%”,”height”:”36px”}},”renderElementAttributes”:{“id”:”pmc-gallery-list-nav-bar-render”,”className”:””,”style”:{“backgroundColor”:”var(–background-color-brand-accent)”,”color”:”black”,”height”:”100%”,”fontWeight”:”500″,”display”:”flex”,”alignItems”:”center”,”justifyContent”:”space-evenly”,”textAlign”:”center”,”borderTop”:”solid 1px #ffffff”}},”rangeElementAttributes”:{“style”:{“color”:”var(–color-grey-light)”,”padding”:”4px 8px”},”className”:”u-font-size-15 lrv-u-font-weight-bold”},”activeRangeElementAttributes”:{“style”:{“color”:”var(–color-brand-primary)”}},”progressBarElementAttributes”:{“style”:{“position”:”absolute”,”bottom”:”0″,”height”:”3px”,”width”:”100%”,”backgroundColor”:”var(–background-color-brand-primary)”,”transform”:”scaleX(0)”,”transformOrigin”:”left center”,”transition”:”transform 240ms cubic-bezier( 0.215, 0.610, 0.355, 1.000 )”,”willChange”:”transform”}},”generatedRanges”:{“0”:[{“indexStart”:0,”indexEnd”:1,”positionDisplayStart”:1,”positionDisplayEnd”:2,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/wicked-2-hours-40-minutes-and-wicked-for-good-2-hours-17-minutes”},{“indexStart”:2,”indexEnd”:3,”positionDisplayStart”:3,”positionDisplayEnd”:4,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/avatar-fire-and-ash-3-hours-12-minutes”},{“indexStart”:4,”indexEnd”:5,”positionDisplayStart”:5,”positionDisplayEnd”:6,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1-2-hours-and-26-minutes-and-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-2-hours-and-10-minutes”},{“indexStart”:6,”indexEnd”:7,”positionDisplayStart”:7,”positionDisplayEnd”:8,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/the-irishman-3-hours-29-minutes”},{“indexStart”:8,”indexEnd”:9,”positionDisplayStart”:9,”positionDisplayEnd”:10,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/oppenheimer-3-hours”}],”530″:[{“indexStart”:0,”indexEnd”:1,”positionDisplayStart”:1,”positionDisplayEnd”:2,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/wicked-2-hours-40-minutes-and-wicked-for-good-2-hours-17-minutes”},{“indexStart”:2,”indexEnd”:3,”positionDisplayStart”:3,”positionDisplayEnd”:4,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/avatar-fire-and-ash-3-hours-12-minutes”},{“indexStart”:4,”indexEnd”:5,”positionDisplayStart”:5,”positionDisplayEnd”:6,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1-2-hours-and-26-minutes-and-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-2-hours-and-10-minutes”},{“indexStart”:6,”indexEnd”:7,”positionDisplayStart”:7,”positionDisplayEnd”:8,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/the-irishman-3-hours-29-minutes”},{“indexStart”:8,”indexEnd”:9,”positionDisplayStart”:9,”positionDisplayEnd”:10,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/oppenheimer-3-hours”}],”800″:[{“indexStart”:0,”indexEnd”:0,”positionDisplayStart”:1,”positionDisplayEnd”:1,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/wicked-2-hours-40-minutes-and-wicked-for-good-2-hours-17-minutes”},{“indexStart”:1,”indexEnd”:1,”positionDisplayStart”:2,”positionDisplayEnd”:2,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/avatar-the-way-of-water-3-hours-12-minutes”},{“indexStart”:2,”indexEnd”:2,”positionDisplayStart”:3,”positionDisplayEnd”:3,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/avatar-fire-and-ash-3-hours-12-minutes”},{“indexStart”:3,”indexEnd”:3,”positionDisplayStart”:4,”positionDisplayEnd”:4,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/dune-2-hours-and-35-minutes-and-dune-part-two-2-hours-and-46-minutes”},{“indexStart”:4,”indexEnd”:4,”positionDisplayStart”:5,”positionDisplayEnd”:5,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1-2-hours-and-26-minutes-and-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-2-hours-and-10-minutes”},{“indexStart”:5,”indexEnd”:5,”positionDisplayStart”:6,”positionDisplayEnd”:6,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/the-brutalist-3-hours-35-minutes”},{“indexStart”:6,”indexEnd”:6,”positionDisplayStart”:7,”positionDisplayEnd”:7,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/the-irishman-3-hours-29-minutes”},{“indexStart”:7,”indexEnd”:7,”positionDisplayStart”:8,”positionDisplayEnd”:8,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/killers-of-the-flower-moon-3-hours-26-minutes”},{“indexStart”:8,”indexEnd”:8,”positionDisplayStart”:9,”positionDisplayEnd”:9,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/oppenheimer-3-hours”},{“indexStart”:9,”indexEnd”:9,”positionDisplayStart”:10,”positionDisplayEnd”:10,”link”:”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/movies-too-long/it-chapter-2-2-hours-49-minutes”}]}},”closeButtonLink”:”/”};
/* ]]> */


Skip to main content

From ‘Wicked’ being split into two movies that together turn the two-and-a-half-hour Broadway show into a five-hour epic to ‘The Brutalist’ featuring a 15-minute intermission, The Hollywood Reporter breaks down the recent mainstream films that casts and crews had to defend the lengths of.

Published on November 15, 2025

Wicked, Avatar Fire and Ash and The Brutalist

‘Wicked,’ ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ and ‘The Brutalist’

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; 20th Century Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection; A24/Courtesy Everett Collection

Some of the longest movies of all time include the 2012 experimental movie Logistics, which runs for 857 hours, and Gérard Courant’s Cinématon, with a run-time of more than 150 hours.

But even more mainstream movies in recent years have raised eyebrows for their more-than-three-hour run-times, with last year’s three-hour-and-35-minute-long Oscar winner The Brutalist even including a 15-minute intermission. In 2022, James Cameron defended the length of the second Avatar film, The Way of Water, against those who deemed it to be too long, and he recently said that his upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, due out in December, would be even longer. (The final run-time, though, for the third Avatar film puts it at the same length as The Way of Water.)

Some projects have also been split in two, with filmmakers defending that decision as necessary to tell a complete story, but that’s caused the full running times for these tales to span nearly five hours.

One project that was cut into two movies was Wicked. After the first movie was released in November 2024, the second movie titled Wicked: For Good is coming out in November 2025. Even before the movies were released, director Jon M. Chu explained he wanted to tell the story in two parts to stay true to the source material of the Broadway show.

In a statement shared via X, Chu said that “all of the cast and crew” promised “to create nothing less than an experience that honors its foundation for all the fans who’ve waited for this movie, and to offer a thrilling, fantastical world full of dynamic characters that invites in those who are unfamiliar.”

Wicked is not the only film to make headlines for its length. The Hollywood Reporter breaks down 10 movies that casts and crews have felt the need to defend the lengths of.

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day


Subscribe

Sign Up

Similar Posts