What Are The Longest Theatrical Movies Ever Released?

The Longest Movies Ever

Okay, so we did a deep dive on the longest movies ever before, but I wanted to provide a refresher on this one.

Now, these movies are experimental films, and typically screened in art galleries, museums, or special film festivals. They have insane run times, so don't freak out.

In film school, my professor made us watch two hours of Andy Warhol's Empire. It was hard to do, but I do feel like I understood the art of it...or at least appreciated the bold statement.

Here are just a smattering of these types of movies.

• Logistics (2012)
  • Summary: This conceptual film documents the entire life cycle of a pedometer in real-time, from its creation in a Chinese factory to its sale in Sweden.
  • Runtime: 857 hours (35 days and 17 hours)
  • Directors/Writers: Erika Magnusson & Daniel Andersson
  • Cast: This film has no actors.
• Modern Times Forever (2011)
  • Summary: A projection shows the accelerated decay of the Stora Enso building in Helsinki over several thousand years.
  • Runtime: 240 hours (10 days)
  • Directors: Bjørnstjerne Reuter Christiansen, Jakob Fenger, & Rasmus Nielsen (artist collective Superflex)
  • Writer: A conceptual piece, no traditional screenplay.
  • Cast: This film has no actors.
• The Cure for Insomnia (1987)
  • Summary: An experimental film consisting primarily of artist L.D. Groban reading his 4,080-page poem, intercut with other clips.
  • Runtime: 87 hours (3 days and 15 hours)
  • Director: John Henry Timmis IV
  • Writer: Nickoli Schirripa
  • Cast: L.D. Groban
• Empire (1964)
  • Summary: A silent, eight-hour, single, stationary shot of the Empire State Building as night falls.
  • Runtime: 8 hours, 5 minutes
  • Directors: Andy Warhol & John Palmer
  • Writer: A conceptual piece (idea by John Palmer).
  • Cast: This film has no traditional cast; its sole subject is the Empire State Building.

The Longest Narrative & Documentary Films

These are films with plots or subjects, often shown with multiple intermissions or in parts at festivals and special screenings. They have narratives to them, meaning they have a story you can follow over all this time.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but I wanted you to see some times that are out there to check out.

• Resan (The Journey) (1987)
  • Summary: A sprawling documentary that interviews people from across the globe about their awareness and fears of the nuclear threat.
  • Runtime: 14 hours, 33 minutes
  • Director/Writer: Peter Watkins
  • Cast: This is a documentary featuring interviews with families from around the world.
• La Flor (2018)
  • Summary: An epic divided into six episodes, each adopting a different film genre, from a B-movie horror to a spy thriller.
  • Runtime: 13 hours, 28 minutes
  • Director/Writer: Mariano Llinás
  • Cast: Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, Laura Paredes
• Out 1 (Noli me tangere) (1971)
  • Summary: This largely improvised film follows two Parisian theater groups and two loners who become convinced a secret society is manipulating events.
  • Runtime: 12 hours, 55 minutes
  • Directors/Writers: Jacques Rivette & Suzanne Schiffman
  • Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Michael Lonsdale, Michèle Moretti, Juliet Berto
• Shoah (1985)
  • Summary: A landmark documentary that presents a comprehensive history of the Holocaust through harrowing interviews with survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.
  • Runtime: 9 hours, 26 minutes
  • Director: Claude Lanzmann
  • Writer: This is a documentary; the film consists of interviews conducted by Lanzmann.
  • Cast: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, and other survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.
• O.J.: Made in America (2016)
  • Summary: This Academy Award-winning documentary examines the life of O.J. Simpson, set against the backdrop of race, celebrity, and justice in Los Angeles.
  • Runtime: 7 hours, 47 minutes (467 minutes)
  • Director: Ezra Edelman
  • Writer: A documentary (Ezra Edelman is credited).
  • Cast: O.J. Simpson, Marcia Clark, F. Lee Bailey. (It's a documentary featuring interviews with the real people involved).
• Sátántangó (1994)
  • Summary: In a desolate Hungarian village, the lives of the few remaining residents are thrown into turmoil by the return of a charismatic, false prophet.
  • Runtime: 7 hours, 19 minutes (439 minutes)
  • Director: Béla Tarr
  • Writers: Béla Tarr & László Krasznahorkai (based on his novel)
  • Cast: Mihály Víg, Putyi Horváth, Miklós Székely B.
• War and Peace (Voyna i mir) (1966-1967)
  • Summary: A monumental Soviet adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel, detailing the impact of Napoleon's invasion of Russia on several aristocratic families.
  • Runtime: 7 hours, 11 minutes (431 minutes)
  • Director: Sergei Bondarchuk
  • Writers: Sergei Bondarchuk & Vasily Solovyov (based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy)
  • Cast: Lyudmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov
• The Best of Youth (La meglio gioventù) (2003)
  • Summary: A sweeping family saga following the lives of two Italian brothers from the 1960s to the 2000s, set against major social and political events.
  • Runtime: 6 hours, 6 minutes (366 minutes)
  • Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
  • Writers: Sandro Petraglia & Stefano Rulli
  • Cast: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Adriana Asti, Jasmine Trinca
• Carlos (2010)
  • Summary: A biographical epic chronicling the life and career of the Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as Carlos the Jackal.
  • Runtime: 5 hours, 34 minutes (334 minutes)
  • Director: Olivier Assayas
  • Writers: Olivier Assayas & Dan Franck
  • Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Nora von Waldstätten
• Happy Hour (2015)
  • Summary: The film follows four middle-class women in Kobe, Japan, whose friendships and personal lives are re-evaluated after one reveals she is getting a divorce.
  • Runtime: 5 hours, 17 minutes (317 minutes)
  • Director: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi
  • Writers: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Tadashi Nohara, & Tomoyuki Takahashi
  • Cast: Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara, Rira Kawamura
• Novecento (1900) (1976)
  • Summary: An epic that chronicles the lives of two Italian men—a landowner and a peasant—born on the same day in 1900, tracing their parallel lives through 20th-century Italian history.
  • Runtime: 5 hours, 17 minutes (317 minutes)
  • Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
  • Writers: Bernardo Bertolucci, Franco Arcalli, & Giuseppe Bertolucci
  • Cast: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster, Donald Sutherland

The Longest Mainstream Theatrical Films

Okay, so when we go ot the movies, how long are you willing to spend there? I went through a list of long mainstream movies and tried to pull out the longest ones out there.

These are the longest well-known films that received a release in conventional cinemas, often as "roadshow" events with intermissions.

I've actually tried to watch a lot of these when they get released because they really are massive event movies that can be fun things to do with your friends.

I mean, who didn't have fun at The Brutalist during the intermission?

• Gettysburg (1993)
  • Summary: A detailed, day-by-day depiction of the key figures and strategic movements of the decisive Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.
  • Runtime: 4 hours, 14 minutes (254 minutes)
  • Director/Writer: Ronald F. Maxwell (based on the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara)
  • Cast: Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Sam Elliott
• Cleopatra (1963)
  • Summary: The famously lavish epic follows the Egyptian queen as she navigates political power and love affairs with Rome's leaders, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
  • Runtime: 4 hours, 8 minutes (248 minutes)
  • Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  • Writers: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall, & Sidney Buchman
  • Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall
• Hamlet (1996)
  • Summary: The first complete and unabridged film version of Shakespeare's play, following the Prince of Denmark as he seeks to avenge his father's murder.
  • Runtime: 4 hours, 2 minutes (242 minutes)
  • Director/Writer: Kenneth Branagh (based on the play by William Shakespeare)
  • Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Robin Williams
• Gone with the Wind (1939)
  • Summary: A sweeping historical romance chronicling the life of the strong-willed Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara during and after the American Civil War.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 58 minutes (238 minutes)
  • Director: Victor Fleming
  • Writer: Sidney Howard (based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell)
  • Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel
• The Ten Commandments (1956)
  • Summary: Cecil B. DeMille's biblical epic tells the story of Moses, from his discovery as a baby to his leading the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 40 minutes (220 minutes)
  • Director: Cecil B. DeMille
  • Writers: Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, & Fredric M. Frank
  • Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  • Summary: The historical epic follows the complex life of T.E. Lawrence, the British officer who united and led Arab tribes against the Turks in World War I.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 47 minutes (227 minutes)
  • Director: David Lean
  • Writers: Robert Bolt & Michael Wilson
  • Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif
• The Brutalist (2024)
  • Summary: An epic spanning 30 years in the life of a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and immigrates to America to pursue his vision.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 35 minutes (215 minutes)
  • Director: Brady Corbet
  • Writers: Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
  • Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
• Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) (1954)
  • Summary: In 16th-century Japan, a poor village hires seven masterless samurai (ronin) to protect them from a gang of bandits.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 27 minutes (207 minutes)
  • Director: Akira Kurosawa
  • Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, & Hideo Oguni
  • Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima
• The Irishman (2019)
  • Summary: Hitman Frank Sheeran looks back on his life and the secrets he kept as a loyal member of the Bufalino crime family and confidant to Jimmy Hoffa.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 29 minutes (209 minutes)
  • Director: Martin Scorsese
  • Writer: Steven Zaillian (based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt)
  • Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
• Malcolm X (1992)
  • Summary: A biographical epic chronicling the extraordinary and controversial life of the civil rights leader, from his childhood to his assassination.
  • Runtime: 3 hours, 22 minutes (202 minutes)
  • Director: Spike Lee
  • Writers: Spike Lee & Arnold Perl (based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X)
  • Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr.