The director's cut of Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon might end up being one of the longest movies ever made.
Speaking to IGN, Snyder explained that his forthcoming sci-fi epic, which will initially release in two parts, will clock in around the four hour mark. Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire, which arrives in December, is locked in at two hours. Its April 2024 sequel – Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver – is still being edited, but Snyder suggests it's "under two hours right now", even if he doesn't "know the exact runtime."
The combined runtime of Rebel Moon's initial cut, then, is comparable to the longest film in Snyder's movie back catalog. That'll be Zack Snyder's Justice League, the director's cut of the DCEU flick that aired on HBO Max in March 2021, for anyone who didn't know.
The extended cut of Justice League, however, will pale in comparison to Rebel Moon's director's cut when it launches on Netflix. As we reported in June, you'll be able to watch two different cuts of Rebel Moon in the future, with an R-rated director's cut following Rebel Moon's PG-13 two-parter at an as-yet-unrevealed date.
Now, in a chat with Netflix Tudum, Snyder confirmed the extended cut will have "close to an hour of extra content." So, if Rebel Moon's director's cut contains every scene from its two-part extravaganza, plus an extra 60 minutes of footage, its runtime will clock in at about five hours. In short, stock up on snacks and plan your bathroom breaks accordingly before setting in to stream it.
The first trailer for Snyder's next film project arrived on August 22, and we think Rebel Moon will be Netflix's answer to Star Wars. It also looks pretty good, although – based on its near-four-minute teaser alone – it's difficult to surmise if it'll join our best Netflix movies list later this year.
A mammoth movie sitting, but not the most taxing
As Hollywood-developed movies go, Rebel Moon could conceivably be the longest English language film of all-time.
Currently, 1963's Cleopatra holds that record, with the historical epic's runtime coming in at four hours and eight minutes. If Rebel Moon's two parts end up having a combined running time of four hours, it'll become the second longest Hollywood film ever made, bumping 1939's Gone With the Wind down to third place on the all-time list. Not only that, it'll also become the longest movie ever to debut on one of the world's best streaming services. Right now, Netflix's The Irishman holds that record with its three hour and 29 minute runtime.
That's before we get onto its director's cut, too. If Rebel Moon's extended version exceeds five hours, it'll be the 38th film in history to rack up a runtime of that length. Its nearest rival is 1994 docufilm Tsahal, which runs for five hours and four minutes.
Eye-watering though the potential runtime of Rebel Moon's director's cut is, though, it's got a long, long way to go to break into the longest movies of all-time's top 10 list. 2006's Filipino crime drama Heremias currently sits in 10th position with a mind-blowing eight hour and 39 minute runtime. Meanwhile, top spot is reserved for 2019 Bangladeshi Bengali flick Amra Ekta Cinema Banabo, which will take you almost an entire day (yes, you read that right) to watch. Its runtime? An astronomical 21 hours and five minutes.
So, while you may baulk at the Rebel Moon's director's cut's possible five-hour runtime, just remember: it could be much, much worse. And hey, with the ability to pause the director's cut on Netflix whenever you want/need to, you don't have to stream Rebel Moon's extended cut in a single sitting when it eventually launches.
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