Ridley Scott doesn't want his famously long movies to give you 'bum ache'
USTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
- Ridley Scott doesn't want to give you "bum ache" while watching his work.
- He likes making longer films, most with runtimes well over two hours.
- Scott told the BBC that he actively edits his films to avoid the "bum ache factor."
Director Ridley Scott knows his movies are long enough to make your butt hurt.
His new movie, "Napoleon," has a runtime of 158 minutes — just shy of what Scott told the BBC is his three-hour benchmark for the "bum ache factor."
According to the outlet, Scott's principle is that if a movie lasts three hours or longer, audiences will get exhausted about two hours in.
"When you start to go 'oh my god' and then you say: 'Christ, we can't eat for another hour,' it's too long," Scott told the BBC.
The 85-year-old director said he's always keeping the "bum ache factor" in mind while editing his films.
Scott's feature films generally go well over the two-hour mark, but rarely hit three hours of runtime.
His 2000 film "Gladiator" stands at 155 minutes, while 1986's "Aliens" and 2015's "The Martian" have respective runtimes of 137 and 144 minutes.
Scott's two latest films, "House of Gucci" and "The Last Duel," ran at 157 and 152 minutes respectively in 2021.
The director has broken his "bum ache" rule at least once — when he released his own cut of his 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven," which lasted a whopping 191 minutes.
"Napoleon," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, is set to hit theater screens on November 22.
It's received less-than-stellar reviews from some French critics, but Scott dismissed their gripes when talking to the BBC.
"The French don't even like themselves," he said.