Martin Scorsese‘s latest epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, has finally been released in theaters. However, it looks like the studios involved aren’t too happy with some of the decisions that theaters have made regarding the screenings.
Specifically, as noted via THR, studios are now cracking down on any theaters that decide to pause Killers of the Flower Moon to include an intermission break. The publication notes that, given the film’s lengthy runtime, “that there have been isolated incidents of theaters pausing the critically praised film — which Apple Original Films and Paramount Pictures released in theaters Oct. 20 with a running time of 3 hours and 26 minutes — to let audience members take a short break.”
The studios behind the film eventually caught word of this trend, “due in part to a photo going viral on social media that showed a sign announcing the intermission at a Colorado theater, studio representatives have informed the venues’ teams that this violates their licensing agreement and have received assurance that the movie will no longer be screened with a break.”
Here’s what one anonymous staff member had to share about their theater’s eight-minute intermission which was placed just prior to the film’s two-hour mark:
“Everybody was really into it because it’s a longer movie, and they’re like, ‘I wish we would have had it for Oppenheimer,’” the individual begins. “People could come out, order another drink, stretch their legs, go to the bathroom and not miss anything.”
He added that the theater hoped to continue providing intermissions for longer movies:
“People were big fans of it. We were going to keep doing it going forward with longer movies, but now it doesn’t seem like an option.”
Another anonymous theater manager made a statement where it was noted that Paramount was trying to preserve Scorsese’s vision:
“Outside of the debate of whether or not there should be an intermission, or whether or not that creative or artistic choice should have been made, Paramount has done exactly what all movie lovers hope studios would do, which is help create a director’s vision onscreen in exactly the way that the director wants it to be seen.”
Martin Scorsese has previously made statements that were quite adamant against intermissions. Despite this, it’s become quite a debate on social media, with many moviegoers feeling as though there are too many longer movies being released in theaters, including the likes of Marvel and Avatar. As such, they believe it would be nice to have a break. Others do not feel like movies should be paused against their respective directors’ wishes. As such, it doesn’t look like intermissions will be making a comeback any time soon.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon as we have them. For now, fans can enjoy uninterrupted screenings of the film in theaters, or otherwise wait for the home video release which should be quite soon.