What's the minimum length for a feature film?

Futchibon

Futchibon

Well-known member
Is it 70 minutes? I've seen some that were 73 and 76 minutes.

Is there an official number or would a studio pad out a really good, say, 65 minute film with a short?

THANKS
 
Futchibon said:
Is it 70 minutes? I've seen some that were 73 and 76 minutes.

Is there an official number or would a studio pad out a really good, say, 65 minute film with a short?

THANKS
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I've always heard 70 mins. To be completely honest though, when I see that a film has a running time of 80 minutes or less, I often won't pay to see it in the theater unless it was something I was really anticipating. Paying to see a film that is only an hour plus ten minutes feels like a rip-off. Even 90 minutes is pushing it, but at least then I can give a bit and consider it a feature length film. Most films released in the theaters these days are 100 - 115 minutes.

Now, if the studios did pair shorter films, or just any features in general, with a couple 5-10 minute short films... that would be nice. Kinda like they did in the old days. I'd much rather see an entertaining little short film during the sit-and-wait time before the trailers start playing. It would be much better than having to endure the stupid trivia questions and commercials they show before movies these days.
 
For a cinema release. NOVEMBER was shot on the DVX and got a cinema release at only 73 minutes; the end credits went for 10 minutes REALLY SLOWLY to pad it out!
 
This is probably a dead topic now, lol.

As a first time feature film maker, you're advised to make your film no longer than 90 minutes. Theater owners love 90 minute films (especially if they're good). Reason being the 150 minute movie has the same entry price and the theater owners can have more runs per day with a 90 minute showing, 15-30 minute clean up. Now when you become a big shot, yeah, go ahead and indulge yourself with Titanic movies.
I just paraphrased Dov Simiens in his book: From Reel to Deal.

At the MFA program at UCLA we were told to never exceed 120 pages but to try and break the 100 mark. All my scripts before I read Dov's book were 105 pages. Now that I'm seriously trying to direct and produce these myself, I'm hovering at 90. If you look at Drive distributed by Film District - the movie script was 80 pages, run time - 100 mins credits and all. And really, the opening credits are really all that matter to most in the theater. End credits can be paused on the DVD.

Yes, Wiki might say 40 minutes is the minimum but what's the purpose? Or what's your purpose? Festival? Theatrical release? I've never seen a 40 minute film in the theaters or rented one on DVD. The shortest movie that I ever saw was that Halloween H20 of 1998, 86 minutes credits and all. The biggest complaint I heard was that it was too short.

I'd say keep it between 90 and 100 pages.
 
if i remember correctly, some festivals would categories films as shorts films with a run-time of 50 mins or less and feature length film from 60 mins. a 90min film would not have a run-time of 90min in most cases. good movies from the 70s and 80s used to be put on 120min vhs tapes or run in a 2 hour spot on tv with 3 ad breaks between acts. so 88 and 105 mins were the magic numbers. 88+2min of credit(most of the first song)(~105min run-time), or 105min +/- one credit song(~120 min run-time).

that seemed to be about the right amount of time needed to tell a story, from beginning to end. a fleshed out, balanced, logical, focused story and without any fill or fat.

a 120min romantic comedy or road trip movie might be way too stretched or unfocused. but a thriller/psycho might not have enough time to flesh out both the protagonist and the twisted mind or reasoning of the psycho at 90min or so.
 
dtzfilms said:
As a first time feature film maker, you're advised to make your film no longer than 90 minutes.
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Absolutely. Keep the runningtime to 70-90 minutes.

Also, remember as a filmmaker (director/producer/writer/whatever) your job is not to sell theater tickets or DVDs or your fiilm to theaters. Those aren't your customers. Your customers are the buyers, the distributors, and your commodity is the right to make copies of your work and sell it along to the consumers.
Keeping it around 70-90 minutes will probably make it easier to get into festivals too.
 
I love movies that are around 90 minutes, give or take a few minutes. It's the perfect length for a 3 act story. Long enough for set up, character development, plot development, but not to long to sit and enjoy. Longer than 90 minutes and I call it the butt factor. My butt hurts from sitting to long and I'm starting to go, ok when is this going to be over? Get in, tell your story, get out.

I recently saw Warm Bodies and thought it had a perfect running time, plenty of story, not to long, 97 minutes.
 
Less than 78 or so minutos is rough theatrically. It's very much becomes a consumer justification issue; kind of like "justifying" a 5 dollar bottle craft beer to drink at home...at that point, just go out for a few.

I personally find the other end of that running time window to be a turn off. What I mean is when I see a film's running time ('specially an indie/small flick) is EXACTLY NINETY MINUTES, I can't help but wonder if there was a decent amount of FILLER used to stretch it out to the "magical number". That could just be me, though. Anyone else ever get that however unfairly pre-qualifying vibe??
 
...in other words, if it runs over 90 through the natural course of things...fine. But if it's an eighty-fiver, let it be an eighty-fiver.
 
Amen to liking shorter features. I will absolutely swear that with a few exceptions, 90-120 used to be the NORM, and then somehow in the last ten-ish years it started being all about 2.5 hour comedies *cough* Apatow *cough* and 3+ hour everything else including young adult/kids movies.
 
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