As the undisputed heavyweight of the winter blockbuster season, those eager to secure their seats in one of the early screenings for Star Wars: The Force Awakens have unearthed some programming information relating to J.J. Abrams’ space opera – specifically, an official rating and runtime.
First spotted by Following The Nerd, it appears that The Force Awakens will clock in at 136 minutes in length, with an official rating of 12A in the UK (roughly the same classification as a PG-13 in the States).
[zergpaid]Assuming Following The Nerd’s report is true, this estimated length aligns closely with what Abrams said at Disney’s D23 event back in August, where the director claimed his sci-fi sequel would aim for anywhere around the two-hour margin – 124 minutes, to be precise – and it’s likely that the film needed some additional scenes or special effects shoots to tie the story into one coherent whole.
For the sake of perspective, The Force Awakens‘ purported runtime puts it in a similar league to The Phantom Menace, itself running for 133 minutes back in ’99. Other installments that boasted similar lengths include Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, each winding up running for 131 and 140 minutes, respectively.
While this report remains unconfirmed for now, there’s really not much we can judge based on runtime alone. Regardless of the length of a film, it’s really a question of pacing, which is so often one of the more vocal complaints levelled at tentpole releases. Yes, as the first episode in exactly a decade, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has an awful lot of exposition and world-building to do, but unless it keeps trucking along at a brisk pace, a healthy two-hour runtime can quickly become a stigma rather than a bonus.
All will be revealed when Star Wars: The Force Awakens punches it all the way into theaters on December 18 in North America.
Published: Oct 12, 2015 09:45 am