Earlier this week, it was rumoured The Batman's runtime will clock in at three hours. Well, The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed with Warner Bros. that the movie is going to be a whopping 2 hours, 55 minutes (with eight minutes of credits included). That's makes this a loooong movie, and places it just six minutes behind Avengers: Endgame's 3 hours, 1-minute runtime.
Now, a lengthy blockbuster like this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a bum-numbing runtime isn't always what's best for business. Anything longer than 2 hours, 30 minutes automatically shaves off a show a day in theaters, but with a lot of movies clocking in past that point these days, Warner Bros. has probably taken it into account and isn't too worried by potential financial implications.
The Batman recently received a PG-13 rating, and there's clearly a lot of story Matt Reeves wants to cram into this "Year Two" adventure for Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader. We're hoping that won't include another origin story, though there will certainly be time for one in this movie.
Some fans will welcome this news (who doesn't want to spend three hours watching the Dark Knight kicking ass?) while others are likely to feel this is simply too long to be sat in a theater right now.
If nothing else, it seems safe to say Warner Bros. must have given Reeves the creative freedom he wanted to tell this tale about the World's Greatest Detective and The Riddler. The Batman is fast approaching, and it probably won't be too much longer until screenings start for critics. As a result, we'll soon have a much better idea of whether this lengthy runtime is a good or bad thing.
The Batman is set to be released in theaters on March 4.