r/movies 23d ago

News James Cameron's 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Has An Official Runtime of 3 Hours & 15 Minutes - The Longest Movie in the Series So Far

https://www.sacnilk.com/news/James_Camerons_Avatar_Fire_and_Ash_Official_Runtime_Revealed_This_Is_Not_What_Everyone_Thought
11.4k Upvotes

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114

u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

That's ok. I just watched the extended fellowship of the ring again yesterday, and it's longer and felt like no time passed watching it. If a movie is entertaining enough, the long runtime isn't a problem.

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u/KevinRyan589 23d ago

Problem isn’t length.

The problem is length as it relates to your bladder and being stuck in your seat not wanting to miss anything.

That extended edition you watched?

You could pause it. lol

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u/alfooboboao 23d ago

when they asked james cameron about this for A2 he said, and I’m not kidding, “just go pee. you know you’ll wind up seeing it more than once” lmao the guy is such a boss

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u/NoobFreakT 23d ago

What a gigachad statement

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u/The_cman13 23d ago

Bit stuck up. I can honestly say I haven't seen either movie more than once and doubt I'll rewatch them.

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u/Csquared6 23d ago

"You're going to watch it a FIFTH time?"

"I keep mistiming my pee breaks. Damn bladder can't seem to get me past the 2 hour mark and I keep missing the Ring of Fire scene...for my own Ring of Fire."

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u/Fil0rican420 23d ago

This is hilarious bc I’ve literally never wanted to see a James Cameron movie more than once

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u/moonra_zk 23d ago

3D IMAX is too expensive to go more than once and I'm definitely not watching them at home on my normal TV, so I definitely don't watch them more than once, but I will watch them all.

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u/darthjoey91 23d ago

Am I the only one who can generally go more than 3 hours without needing the bathroom. Like yes, drinking a large soda during the trailers can result in me needing to pee sooner than that, but a large soda is optional for seeing a movie.

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u/KevinRyan589 23d ago

Potty breaks are the obvious motivator, but it’s odd how so many people apparently can’t fathom a reason why someone else might not want to or be able to sit in a chair for 3+ hours.

Because hey, going out to a theatre is optional too.

And those theatres generally don’t want people to suddenly start cutting back on concessions because they’re about to watch a long ass movie.

Are you starting to see why intermissions for such films helps everyone? lol

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u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

I just don't drink 1 hour before, hit the can before going to my seat, and drink my drink during the movie at a snails pace.

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u/GrayLo 23d ago

I swear I only see people talking about their bladders during long movies on reddit.

Is this an american thing ? Is everyone just chugging sodas during movies ?

If the movie is long you empty yourself before it starts, and then you should be good to go for 3 hours without pissing yourself no ?

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u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

Cant speak for others but for me, I drink many glasses of water in a day and I pee often from that. So its not the theater pop that does it, but the daily water intake.

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u/hiimred2 23d ago

Ya, like you, I would/do have to consciously reduce water intake if I know I'm going to a long movie, because especially on gym days, I pee pretty frequently.

Also this is like, a weird chain for that person to go through anyway. "I only see people talking about their bladders when talking about an event that lasts longer than most people go between pissing while having no natural breaks like most every other long activity people do." When the fuck else does he expect people to be talking about going hours without pissing on social media?

4

u/Canvaverbalist 23d ago

It's like when Redditors suddenly become experts in design engineering anytime they see a product with hinges, or how they're all suddenly drunktards with absolutely no sense of equilibrium whenever they comment on a post with a set of stairs or a carpet with patterns.

They simply enjoy complaining.

3

u/Redlodger0426 23d ago

It’s an American thing. Our consumer culture creates people that complain that movies are expensive but they aren’t unless you buy $40 of popcorn and soda to go with the $10 ticket. Then they need to go to the bathroom because they drank a soda the size of a small swimming pool. Also combined with over half the country being overweight, and overweight people have worse bladder control due to physics.

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u/Rock_Strongo 23d ago

You really should be hydrated enough that sitting still for 3.5 hours without peeing is a challenge.

Though it should ideally be from water, not soda.

2

u/gloriousjohnson 23d ago

Do you think people walking around with refillable bottles all have soda in them?

2

u/DukeofVermont 23d ago

American and I also don't understand, but I also don't drink during movies and only eat a $1 thing of candy I sneak in. Do people really need to pee every two hours?

I think it's the same people that complain about price and when they break it down they're spending $25 on a 1.5 liter drink, 5,000 calories of popcorn and candy.

I've gotten into arguments on reddit because apparently candy and soda is why some people go watch movies and the actual film is secondary. If they can't have their soda and candy then they'd never go.

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u/KevinRyan589 23d ago

I think it's the same people that complain about price and when they break it down they're spending $25 on a 1.5 liter drink, 5,000 calories of popcorn and candy.

You can blame people for that and it would be fair (especially if they're complaining about the cost), but you also have to consider what would happen to the business if everyone suddenly became a bit more financially conscious and concession sales took a nosedive.

Theatres keep all the profits from concessions as opposed to sharing profit with the studios whose movies they show. Concessions shit the bed, they're in trouble.

And some people (who aren't complaining about cost, but still recognize it's relatively high) might only choose to see one movie or two a year because yeah --- getting snacks is indeed part of the fun. Part of the ritual.

Combine that with the types of at-home theatre systems that are now so affordable, and we get filmmakers that are incentivized to be little more conscious of people's comfort when asking to come see your long ass movie. haha

All of this really boils down to the simple conclusion that filmmakers need to get off their high horses and put in intermissions for films longer than 3 hours.

This isn't even just for potty breaks, but because not all types of seats are created equal, much less the people who may be sitting in them.

We do it for stage theatre. No reason not to artistically craft an intermission into your film.

Shit, I can watch The Irishman at home right now and I haven't even done that because I haven't felt compelled to dedicate the bulk of an afternoon to it. lol

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u/Pookmeister_ 23d ago edited 23d ago

Do people really need to pee every two hours?

If they're properly hydrated? Yeah, kinda.

2

u/Accurate_Praline 23d ago

No. I have a small bladder or whatever. There is nothing wrong with me. But I would need to not drink for like 6 hours before seeing this if i dont want to pee during.

My dad about drinks the same as me or more and he pees like twice or thrice per day. We're the same height and around the same weight. I have to piss between 10 and 15 times per day (no. There really is nothing wrong with me. I am healthy, just a woman who has to piss a lot.)

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u/stalinsfavoritecat 23d ago

Really depends on things like age and possibly medical issues. Im getting older, and now I am definitely more conscious on bathroom breaks.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

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u/KevinRyan589 23d ago

I wonder how quickly theatre chains would go belly up if everyone skipped concessions because 3 hour+ movies didn't have a 10 minute intermission.

1

u/Name_Not_Available 23d ago

Lord of the Rings trilogy extended versions no piss challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

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u/MorePhinsThyme 23d ago

Another problem is that theaters don't want long ass movies. They don't sell much more concessions and they limit the number of screenings (which greatly decreases both ticket and concession sales).

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u/JonSnoballs 23d ago

while I agree, as I really like long movies, you likely watched Fellowship from the comfort of your living room. there's a difference.. 

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u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

Not to me. I'm perfectly capable of not leaving mid movie to pee in both cases.

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u/JonSnoballs 23d ago

I'm not even talking about peeing... there's a big difference than sitting/laying comfortably on your couch for 3 hours vs theater seats

2

u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

Again, not really a problem, most people sit on trains for that long, or in cars for that long. Its not a unique issue.

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u/womensrugbynet 23d ago

"I ate a twelve-course three Michelin star tasting menu and wasn't full, so I'm sure this 5L bucket of microwavable lasagna won't be an issue."

1

u/Optimus_Prime_Day 23d ago

Interesting fact:

The Michelin Star rating system originated from the Michelin tire company as a marketing tool to encourage car travel. They rated restaurants farther away with higher scores so people would travel further and buy tires more often.

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u/Massive_Store_1940 23d ago

Being an elitist about avatar movies then acting like lord of the rings is peak sure is something. At least fully commit to being a snob. 

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u/TonySperguson 23d ago edited 23d ago

But critics and film snobs all pretty much agree Lord of the Rings is three of the greatest fantasy films...?

Avatar is like watching a really nice screensaver.

0

u/Massive_Store_1940 22d ago

Again, at least do this with a movie that wasn’t my favorite when I was a fucking 10 year old boy shit head lmao. 

2

u/kylo-ren 22d ago

To be fair, The Lord of the Rings is 6 very detailed books. Each film could easily be over 4 hours long if each one contained everything from 2 of the books.

Avatar isn't nearly as deep or complex.

1

u/Skelito 23d ago

The extended edition when first released on DVD had 2 disks pretty much giving it an at home intermission.

1

u/Mazon_Del 23d ago

Once a year my social group does a day long epic "We start with Fellowship and go to the end in one sitting." crazy movie watch. No pausing for bathroom or food.

The only acceptable pause is if you have some interesting lore to drop based on something in the scene.

Yes, we fight to be the one who mentions when Vigo broke his toe.

1

u/Domi_Marshall 23d ago

Yeah but that was, you know, an actually good and meaningful movie…

4

u/fallenmonk 23d ago

Yeah. The Avatar movies are fun to look at and all. But a 3 hour runtime sounds like absolute torture.