Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises occupies the same territory as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in that all three hotly-anticipated sequels drew decent-to-strong reviews from critics and made a ton of money at the box office, only for fan opinion to continue souring in the years since their respective releases.
As evidenced by the sheer number of movies that have tried in the thirteen years since, very few blockbusters have been able to replicate the magic of The Dark Knight, not even its own sequel. One thing most people would agree on is that Rises is a touch on the long side, though, and it would have definitely benefited from being tighter than 165 minutes.
Throughout shooting and post-production on Matt Reeves’ The Batman, we’ve heard constant talk that the latest reboot for the Caped Crusader is going to come within touching distance of the three-hour mark. While that’s yet to be confirmed, tipster ViewerAnon claims that the most recent test screenings have put the comic book adaptation in the 165/170 minute range.
Whether or not that turns out to be the case when The Batman is locked, loaded and ready for release is an entirely different question, but if Reeves wants his movie to run for close to three hours, then let’s hope he’s got a story strong enough to justify it.