Back in the days when houses cost a nickel, soda fountains were a thing and cigarettes were a valid currency, it wasn’t uncommon for the top-earning movies to be epic-dramas with what seemed like 48-hour runtimes. GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS are all sweeping classics that raked in the big bucks, and require you to call in a sick day in order to watch. Now, the only movies that run near three hours that audiences want to watch usually have to involve smashing robots, caped crusaders and/or CGI goblins.
But now it appears we may get a movie that will remind us of those films from ages past, thanks to the master himself, Martin Scorsese. Variety’s Kris Tapley took to Twitter to reveal just how long Scorsese’s new drama, SILENCE, actually is—and it puts BATMAN V. SUPERMAN to shame:
That’s a long movie. I don’t think many people can go that long without a few robots punching each other. The studio releasing the movie, Paramount, probably thinks the same thing, because although they want the movie to come out later this year the flick doesn’t have a solidified release date. IMDB currently has the movie listed for December 22, but that’s only in Australia. If there is a slight delay in the movie's release it may be because of the runtime, which Paramount is probably hoping they can get cut down before it comes out. Scorsese said earlier this month that the film will finish scoring in October and the release “depends on Paramount,” according to Showbiz 411.
This wouldn’t be surprising, as many directors like Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino often end up making obscenely long movies only to have them cut down for theatrical release. But SILENCE, which follows two Jesuit Catholic priests traveling in Japan who face persecution as they spread the word of God, sounds like a movie that should be three hours long. The movie has been a passion project of Scorsese’s for years, so if it needs to be over three hours, let it be over three f@cking hours. And if there’s anyone who can make audiences park their asses in an uncomfortable movie theater chair for that long, it’s Scorsese (see the 179-minute WOLF OF WALL STREET). Hell, make it four hours. That’s just another 45 minutes of what I can assume is pure amazingness.
SILENCE starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver doesn't have a firm release date, but Paramount will most likely try to have it out later this year.