Why do almost all movies in the 2020s go longer than 2.5 hours?

It feels like every big movie nowadays is pushing the epic runtime agenda. Back in the day, a solid 90-minute film could tell a full story, but now? If it’s not at least 2.5 hours, did Hollywood even try? Are directors just refusing to edit, or is this a symptom of streaming culture making people more tolerant of long content? And let’s be real - do these movies actually need to be this long, or are we just getting extra filler for no reason?

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