Epic Films That Test Your Stamina: The Longest Movies in Theaters

Over the past several years, movie theaters in the United States have seen a sharp drop in attendance—down about 30% since 2019. The explosion of streaming platforms and the rising cost of living have made it easier for people to stay home. Still, there’s something special about settling into a plush seat, popcorn in hand, and losing yourself in a film that stretches on for hours. That’s a feeling you just can’t replicate on your couch, no matter how advanced your home setup is.

Streaming executives sometimes miss the point. When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos argued that the double feature of Barbie and Oppenheimer in 2023 would have been just as powerful if released straight to streaming, he told the New York Times,

“There’s no reason to believe that the movie itself is better in any size of screen for all people,”

and then added,

“My son’s an editor, he watched Lawrence of Arabia on his phone.”

That comparison falls flat. The idea that a sweeping, legendary film like Lawrence of Arabia could be fully appreciated on a phone screen is almost comical. This is a movie built for the largest canvas possible, and its runtime—over three and a half hours—demands your full attention. Watching it in bits and pieces, like a TV show, just doesn’t do it justice.

Why Long Movies Belong in Theaters

What makes the theater experience so vital for these epic films is the way it forces you to focus. There are no distractions—no phones, no pausing, no wandering off. You’re locked in, following the story from start to finish, unless there’s a scheduled intermission. For movies that run well past the three-hour mark, the immersive environment of a theater is the only way to truly experience them. Sure, a quick 90-minute flick works fine at home, but when a film stretches toward four hours, there’s really only one place to see it.

Record-Breaking Runtimes: From Art Projects to Hollywood Epics

So, which film holds the record for the longest theatrical release? There have been some truly marathon movies in history. Andy Warhol’s Empire, for example, is just a static shot of the Empire State Building that runs for more than eight hours. Then there’s Logistics, a conceptual piece about the production of a pedometer, which clocks in at over 35 days. But these are more like art installations than traditional movies—no one is sitting through the entire thing in a theater.

When it comes to films that actually expect audiences to stay engaged, a few recent titles have pushed the envelope. In 2025, The Brutalist made waves for its extended runtime and built-in intermission, sparking talk that director Brady Corbett might be reviving the trend of ultra-long features. But most of the true endurance tests in cinema history date back decades. Gone with the Wind, for instance, is both a classic and a marathon at just under four hours. Cleopatra, released in 1963, pushed the limit even further with a runtime of four hours and eight minutes.

The Ultimate Test: Gettysburg’s Four-Hour Epic

But the crown for the longest movie ever released in mainstream theaters goes to Gettysburg, which premiered in 1993. Audiences sat through four hours and 14 minutes—254 minutes in total—of Civil War drama, with an intermission thoughtfully placed in the middle. The filmmakers knew viewers would need a break, so they split the film in two, giving everyone a chance to stretch, grab more snacks, or even make a quick exit if the experience proved too much. This approach made the marathon runtime a little more manageable, but it still stands as the ultimate test of moviegoer endurance.