Venom: Let There Be Carnage Is Reportedly 90 Minutes Long And For The Love Of God, Please Let This Be True

Do you remember the bizarre saga surrounding the alleged runtime of the first "Venom" movie? The actual runtime is a reasonable 1 hour and 52 minutes, but unfounded internet reports flew fast and furious that the film would boast 140 minutes of symbiote-related mayhem — which is a (once again, completely false) total that still pops up whenever anyone Googles "Venom runtime." Really, it does. This is relatively minor stuff in the grand scheme of things, sure, but it's pretty ridiculous that most people would unwittingly see the blatantly false rumor before ever finding out the factual answer! I'm surprised by myself that the absurdity of the internet can still surprise me!

Anyway, there is apparently nothing new under the sun because we're back a mere three years later to do this all over again. Unconfirmed reports are indicating that "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" is set for a brisk 90 minutes and, while we cannot confirm the authenticity of this, we can at least say that we are begging for this to be true.

Another day, another rumor in need of addressing. ScreenRant brings to our attention that, with "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" tickets recently going up on sale and with the release date unexpectedly moved up by two weeks, theatrical entities such as Fandango and AMC Theaters have tentatively listed the runtime at 90 minutes. This would make it the shortest live-action comic book movie in a long while, but it could very easily be nothing more than a mere placeholder. It would be an inconsistent one, at that, as Cinemark currently has the film clocking in at 95 minutes. As of right now, 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" holds the title with a breezy 92 minute runtime, but it remains to be seen whether this alleged runtime for "Let There Be Carnage" actually pans out or not. /Film has reached out to Sony for comment and will provide any updates if we hear back.

If you ask me, I would wholeheartedly welcome a 90-minute romp following Eddie Brock and Venom's dubious love story with open arms. There's a certain tendency among big budget blockbusters in recent years where the need to be perceived as "important" or as an "event film" seemingly dictates a runtime of at least 2 hours or so, oftentimes more, regardless if the story actually supports that or not. Much of this stems from movies simply not knowing when to end, dragging things on far beyond their welcome. In fact, film critic Mike Ryan recently wrote about this exact phenomenon and compared modern films with pre-2000s cinema, which typically end as soon as their main plots do, with no need to wrap up every possible detail. He went a step further and interviewed several prominent filmmakers under cover of anonymity and, as they pointed out, there are a few major factors at play: needing to lay the ground for sequels, providing enough closure for the sake of positive CinemaScore ratings, and simply the inability to leave the comforting world of any given story.

We'll find out soon enough whether "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" opts for the no-frills approach or embraces the indulgence of many a blockbuster before it. The sequel hits theaters on October 1, 2021.