Martin Scorsese defends epic three and a half hour runtime for Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese believes if you can binge watch a show on Netflix then you can manage his upcoming film.

There has been a lot of buzz around Killers of the Flower Moon but loads of people are struggling to stomach its three and a half hour runtime.

While some have managed to get through the likes of The Lord of the Rings franchise, others have complained that no movie should be this long.

But the director has politely told these people to get over themselves.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, he said: “People say it’s three hours, but come on, you can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours.

"Also, there are many people who watch theater for 3.5 hours.

"There are real actors on stage, you can’t get up and walk around. You give it that respect.

"Give cinema some respect.”

He's been worried that cinema goers are losing their love of anything that isn't a sequel, franchise or superhero movie.

In a chat with GQ, he suggested: "There are going to be generations now that think movies are only those — that's what movies are.

"They already think that, which means that we have to then fight back stronger.

"And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves. And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides.

"Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up.”

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Killers of the Flower Moon could follow in the footsteps of Barbie and Oppenheimer as original storylines that get really get people talking.

Those films have been all the rage in 2023 and commentators said it proves people are still interested in seeing something brand new.

The synopsis for Killers of the Flower Moon is described as: "Members of the Osage tribe in northeastern Oklahoma are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major BOI (which became the FBI in 1935) investigation directed by a 29-year-old J. Edgar Hoover and former Texas Ranger Tom White, described by Grann as 'an old-style lawman'.

Leonardo DiCaprio portrays Ernest Burkhart and Robert De Niro stars as William Hale and critics say they have both delivered masterclasses in acting.

The movie currently has a rating of 97 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, which ranks as one of the best films of his career so far.