Killers of the Flower Moon given intermissions without Scorsese, studio approval

Last Updated on November 2, 2023

When the official runtime of Killers of the Flower Moon was revealed to be three hours and 26 minutes, most Martin Scorsese fans greeted the news with, “Yeah? So?” And while it’s easy to mock a film’s length – despite the fact that we’ll all bingewatch for 10 hours at a time – Scorsese is one of those directors who earns it, not just by reputation but because he’s telling stories that deserve the runtime. However, some theaters around the world have taken it upon themselves to address the 200+ minutes by incorporating an intermission. Come on, do we really need pee-pee breaks that badly?

According to reports, Colorado and international markets including Brazil, Germany and Italy are all guilty of taking it upon themselves to throw in intermissions, which evidently violates “domestic licensing agreement for the project.” As such, these imposed intermissions have been shut down. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the intermission occurs around two hours into Killers of the Flower Moon and lasts eight minutes.

As editor Thelma Schoonmaker – who has worked with Martin Scorsese since 1967 – told one outlet, “I understand that somebody’s running it with an intermission which is not right…That’s a violation so I have to find out about it.” Really, who would have the deranged mindset to provide their own personal cut of a film edited by one of the greatest and most decorated editors in all of cinema? Scorsese himself added, “People say it’s three hours, but come on, you can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours. Also, there are many people who watch theatre for three and a half hours. There are real actors on stage — you can’t get up and walk around. You give it that respect; give cinema some respect.”

Of course, Killers of the Flower Moon isn’t the only Martin Scorsese film to face criticism for its length. Remember the idiotic movement that showed how you could watch The Irishman – which clocked in at 209 minutes – as a four-part miniseries?

Both Killers of the Flower Moon and The Irishman, along with so many big-budget productions, have entered the discussion of whether movies have gotten too long or not. Regardless of your stance, we should all agree that adding an intermission without the consent of the filmmaker and studio is an absolute violation of creativity and respect.

How do you feel about Killers of the Flower Moon getting slapped with an intermission? Would you like the idea if it originally included one? Let us know in the comments section below!