Movieline

Just How Long is Jonah Hex Exactly? [UPDATED]

At least the reviews aren't as bad as Marmaduke? Well, not yet anyway. The early critical notices for Jonah Hex are in, and they're... awful. Only 12 critics have weighed in on Rotten Tomatoes thus far and the consensus is that the DC comic adaptation is the latest worst movie of the summer. However if there is one thing unifying all the bad reviews -- beyond the general hatred -- it's in commenting on just how quickly Jonah Hex is over. Brevity might be the soul of wit, but in this case it's also the soul of a totally hacked-apart studio movie. But just how long is this thing?

Warner Bros. representatives haven't yet responded to Movieline's request for running-time confirmation* but in his pan for the AP, David Germain writes:

Take away the eight minutes of end-credits, a lengthy prologue sequence built around comic-book panels and some repetitive flashbacks of action we've already seen, and there's barely an hour's worth of actual movie in Jonah Hex. And that's using the term "actual movie" generously.

OK, first: Good burn. But wait -- "barely an hour's worth" of movie. What is this, a direct-to-DVD Olsen Twins movie?

Apparently. According to Huffington Post contributor Scott Mendelson, Jonah Hex runs 73 minutes without credits. Steve Persall in the St. Petersburg Times agrees with Mendelson's time keeping, offering that "it may take longer driving to and from the theater than watching the movie."

That said, Metromix's Matt Pais disagrees, writing that Jonah Hex is actually one minute shorter, clocking in at just 72 minutes. No wonder Megan Fox is reportedly only in this thing for 10 minutes -- there isn't enough movie to go around! Developing...

*[UPDATE: According to Warner Bros., Jonah Hex has a running time of 83 minutes. Plan your viewing this weekend accordingly.]