Los Angeles, CA
While print costs were crazy and digital has helped with that, the big thing that hasn't changed in regards to long movies is actual presentation. If you can show 2-3 more screenings per day for a movie by having a shorter running time, from a distributor point of view, this is a lot more lucrative as the audience doesn't pay any more for a long movie than it does a short one.
So ultimately, while Peter is extremely powerful, ultimately the studio needs to agree to length is it could directly impact their return on investment.
Quoted from benheck:And not just the print cost. Going much past 2 hours meant a third can had to be shipped to hold more than the standard 6 reels (2 hours)
