Poll: The Perfect Length for Movies Is Shorter Than You Might Think

Movies that hit the mark include “Beetlejuice” and “Toy Story 2”

Michael Keaton Beetlejuice
Michael Keaton in "Beetlejuice" (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Feel like movies are too long? You aren’t alone, according to a recent poll by Talker Research. Their poll of 2,000 Americans managed to hone in on what many consider to be the perfect movie length — and it’s shorter than you might think.

What is that perfect length? Turns out that it’s a breezy 92 minutes. Moviegoers are also over the long-winded, marathon-length that some films have ballooned to in the past few years, with only 2% thinking a movie should exceed two-and-a-half hours. A low 15% think films should even cross the two-hour mark.

In the 60 days preceding the poll, “the average respondent feels they’ve watched two movies that they felt were too long, with 23% having reluctantly sat through three or more,” according to Talker Research.

Movies the poll deemed to be the “perfect” length? They include:

  • Beetlejuice
  • Dodgeball
  • Kung Fu Panda
  • Monsters Inc.
  • Toy Story 2

Those same 2,000 Americans who were polled had plenty to say about the hot-button topic of subtitles, with 15% declaring that discussion of whether or not they should be turned on in their homes is a regular thing. The most interesting find was in which democraphic leans pro-subtitle: young people.

The younger the American, the bigger the fan of subtitles, according to Talker Research — 30% of Gen Z said they “always” keep subtitles on, with millennials close behind at 23%. This compared to just 13% for Gen X and 12% for boomers.

The survey was conducted by Talker Research, which conducted the poll April 3-8. Data was collected from April 3-8. The margin of error for the data is +/- 2.2 points, with a 95% confidence interval.

Comments