The 2010s Only Had Two Hollywood Movies Go Over 3 Hours in Length; In Comparison, the 1990s Had 15

“Avengers: Endgame” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” are the only American studio movies to hit the 3 hour mark this decade. That’s right, the American epic is all but extinct. We know the “epic” was all the rage in 20th century Hollywood, with grand sweeping statements invading almost every genre including the musical, but to have just one 3 hour movie this decade feels depressing.

In the 1990s, a staggering 17 films crossed the 180 minute mark: “The Green Mile,” “Malcolm X,” “Heat,” “Schindler’s List,” “Titanic,” “Nixon,” “JFK,” “Shortcuts,” “Dances With Wolves,” “Braveheart,” “Casino,” “Magnolia,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Meet Joe Black” and “At Play in the Fields of the Lord.”

The 2000s just had ten 3+ hour films, but that’s high and mighty when compared to this decade which, as mentioned previously, just has one. This significant decline shows a stagnant studio system in search of the simple buck instead of genuine creative expression.

Looking at the list below of the twenty longest studio movies this decade, you will start to notice trends. Directors like Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson, Denis Villeneuve, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott seem to be given free reign by studios to create whatever they like. Same thing with franchises such as the MCU, DCEU, and James Bond. Also, 11 of the top 20 films were either sequels or reboots. The only sequel/reboot in the ‘90s list was “The Godfather Part III.”

The Twenty Longest Studio Movies of the 2010s

“Avengers: Endgame” 3 hr. 2 min.
”The Wolf of Wall Street” 3 hr.
”Interstellar” 2 hr. 49 min.
”The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” 2 hr. 49 min.
”The Hateful Eight” 2 hr. 48 min
”Boyhood” 2 hr. 46 min.
”Transformers: Age of Extinction” 2 hr. 26 min.
”Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” 2 hr. 45 min.
”The Dark Knight Rises” 2 hr. 45 min.
”Django Unchained” 2 hr. 45 min.
”Blade Runner” 2 hr. 44 min.
”Silence” 2 hr. 41 min.
”The Desolation of Smaug” 2 hr. 41 Min.
”The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” 2 hr. 40 min.
”Avengers: Infinity War” 2 hr. 40 min.
”Zero Dark Thirty” 2 hr. 37 min.
”The Revenant” 2 hr. 36 min.
”Robin Hood” 2 hr. 36 min.
”Transformers: Dark Moon” 2 hr. 34 min.
”Prisoners” 2 hr. 33 min.

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