'Avengers: Endgame' Is Officially The Longest Marvel Movie Ever, Confirmed By Anthony & Joe Russo
The week before Avengers: Endgame tickets went on sale, rumors were swirling about the film's runtime. Movie theater chains had started to update their websites with a runtime that was slightly over three hours, but since theaters have been known to update their sites with inaccurate runtimes, fans have been wanting to hear something more official. Thankfully, Anthony & Joe Russo confirmed the Avengers Endgame runtime while making an appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Anthony & Joe Russo confirmed that the Avengers Endgame runtime officially clocks in at 3 hours and 58 seconds. That's slightly shorter than the 3 hours and 2 minutes that was initially listed by movie theaters, to which Joe Russo joked that they "just sped up the credits" a bit in order to save people that extra minute. Even so, that's enough to make this the longest Marvel movie ever made, landing at 20 minutes longer than Avengers: Infinity War, the previous record holder.
Having a three-hour blockbuster isn't common, but it's also not unheard of either. All of the Lord of the Rings movies were around three hours. In fact, the final chapter of the trilogy from director Peter Jackson ran around three and a half hours. That hasn't stopped some people from complaining about the extensive runtime on social media. But no one is forcing anyone to see this movie. Just be careful about drinking too much soda while you watch.
However, when you're making your plans to see Avengers: Endgame, don't forget that most theaters include 15-20 minutes of trailers before the movie. So you'll be spending a significant amount of time at the theater whenever you choose to see it. But that's why most of the sneak preview screenings on Thursday, April 25 are starting around 6pm or 6:30 P.M. local time.
Even though this is the first official confirmation we've gotten about the Avengers Endgame runtime, most fans didn't need to know that information before they bought their tickets earlier this week. The first showings of the movie sold out almost immediately, and the rush was so crazy that movie theater websites were crashing again. Avengers: Endgame even broke the previous presales record set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in just six hours, and now fans are reselling their tickets for stupid amounts of money.
Fans will certainly be rewarded for the three hours and change they'll be spending in theaters. Anthony & Joe Russo have gone out of their way to keep nearly everything in the second and third acts of Avengers: Endgame out of the marketing. They've even gone out of their way to manipulate some shots to throw fans off the scent. But even with those limitations, Avengers: Endgame is already expected to smash box office records. They probably didn't even need to market the movie at all.
Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26, 2019, but sneak preview screenings are being held on April 25.