Looks like Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn’t pulling any of its punches when it comes to runtime. The Tom Hardy vehicle, also starring Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, has officially been given a run time, according to official ticket sales websites like AMC and Fandango. The blockbuster, now opening two weeks early on October 1, reportedly has a run time of an even ninety minutes.
A short, ninety-minute run time is far shorter than the average length audiences have come to expect for a superhero film, with epics like Avengers: Endgame clocking in at just a smidge over three hours, and the brand-new Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings coming in at two hours and twelve minutes. Pushing two and a half hours is usually the standard for superhero films, and even the first Venom film nearly made it to two hours, with a run time of an hour and fifty-two minutes. The film also received a PG-13 rating, equivalent to that of the first film.
A short run time doesn’t necessarily denote a poorer quality movie — just look at the success of ninety-minute comedies like What We Do in the Shadows, or classic horror films like Child’s Play, both genres in which the Venom franchise lives. But does this mean less screen time for characters like Carnage, Venom’s fellow symbiote, and archnemesis? Perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, but who says you need a boatload of screen time to make an impact?
Fans were relieved to see the film pushed up instead of back, when rumors began to circulate that the film would receive another COVID-19-related delay after Sony pushed back the releases of Mission: Impossible 7 and Top Gun: Maverick. But, in the wake of Shang-Chi’s $94.7 million debut over Labor Day weekend, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was instead officially moved up two weeks, moving from its October 15 spot to take over an October 1 release, now set to compete against the release of MGM’s The Addams Family 2 and New Line’s prequel to The Sopranos, The Many Saints of Newark.