Christopher Nolan has found one way to guarantee “The Dark Knight Rises” can be called the biggest Batman ever. The running time is 164 minutes (and 27 seconds).
That’s longer than Nolan’s 140 minute “Batman Begins” and 152 minute “The Dark Knight.” None of the Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher Bat-films ran longer than 126 minutes.
The “Dark Knight Rises” running time was revealed by the British Board of Film Classification (the U.K. equivalent of the MPAA), who stamped the film with a 12A rating. “Rises” landed the similar PG-13 from the MPAA back in April. Although the MPAA rating was for “intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language,” the BBFC board simply cautions the film “contains moderate violence.”
Also of note in the BBFC information is the film’s cast listing: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Liam Neeson, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Aidan Gillen, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Matthew Modine, Juno Temple, Tom Conti.
Yes, that’s Liam Neeson (whose villainous Ra’s al Ghul perished in “Batman Begins”) listed before Anne Hathaway. Everytime you think you’ve got one “Rises” question answered, another pops up.
Check out all the reasons we can’t wait for “The Dark Knight Rises” below: