There’s been a lot written about why the majority of feature films fall between the 90-120 minute mark. Today we’ll hear a practical perspective for this time lock from one of the most respected independent filmmakers, John Sayles, who has written over 30 films including Eight Men Out, Matwan and more recently The Spiderwick Chronicles:
“Because movies are expensive to make there is also a kind of economic time to consider. A reel of film ready to project is roughly twenty minutes in length, Each time you go past another twenty minutes of running time it means another reel has to be shipped. The distributor has to pay for shipping. Theatrical prints are charged for by the foot—the longer the movie, the more expensive each print is. Different theaters have different turnaround times for getting the old audience out and the new one seated, and there are a limited number of ‘prime-time’ hours each week. If you you much past 110 minutes in running time. you can forget about having a 6:00, 8:00, 10:00 and midnight show— go much longer than 2 hours and there’s really only room for two rather than three prime-time shows a night. Exhibitors start to get nervous. No matter how good or popular your movie, three shows at 65 percent capacity in a five-hundred-seat theater will outgross two full houses. These are the economics of theatrical distribution.”
John Sayles
Thinking in Pictures
page 33
Embrace the limitations in your writing and as Sayles goes on to say find that balance between how long you ideally think your story should be with how much the market will bear. And keep in mind that book editors and script readers often say that with most things they read that the story could be better by cutting the writing down 10-20%. I think it was William Faulkner who said, “Kill your darlings.”
Related posts: Screenwriting by the Numbers (Tip #4)
[…] There’s been a lot written about why the majority of feature films fall between the 90-120 minute mark. Today we’ll hear a practical perspective for this time lock from one of the most respected independent filmmakers who has written over 30 films including Eight Men Out, Matwan and more recently The Spiderwick Chronicles: “Because movies are […] Original Source… […]
“No matter how good or popular your movie, three shows at 65 percent capacity in a five-hundred-seat theater will outgross two full houses.”
John Sayles
Thinking in Pictures
page 33
I think Mr. Sayles needs a math class.
Well, maybe he meant three shows at 67% capacity…