There have been all kinds of Best Picture nominees throughoutOscarshistory, and these are the 10 longest nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The nomination ofThe Brutalisthas reignited conversation around the length of some of these films, with the movie’s long runtime being one of its most notable characteristics. However,The Brutalistis far from the longest movie to get nominated for Best Picture, with these 10 Oscar nominees being the longest yet.
The 2025 Oscars are almost here, withanother round of Best Picture nominees competing to take home the coveted Academy Award. While most of the films have fairly average runtimes,The Brutalisthas blown the rest out of the water with its 3 hour and 35 minute runtime.The Brutalistis so long that it features an intermission, although it isn’t as long as some of these nominees from the past.
Coming in at the bottom of the list is the 1956 filmGiant,which runs for 3 hours and 21 minutes. George Stevens' Western romance movie follows Bick Benedict, a Texas rancher who returns home with a new wife. However, this relationship causes a rivalry within the family, with the film spanning multiple years and telling an epic Western story. The movie’s runtime is reflective of the massive story that it is telling, with the movie starting in the 1920s and going all the way through the 1940s.
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At the time of its release,Giantwas one of the top three longest-running Best Picture nominees of all time. However, it wasn’t even the Best Picture nominee with the longest runtime that year. Interestingly,Giantwas released in the same year asThe Ten Commandments, an even longer Best Picture nominee that will be covered later on this list. The two films were also nominated alongsideThe King and IandFriendly Persuasion, all of which lost toAround the World in 80 Days.
1960’sThe Alamoisn’t the first Western on this list and it won’t be the last, with the 1960 film coming in as the ninth-longest Best Picture nominated movie. John Wayne directs and stars in the movie that tells the story of the famous Battle of the Alamo,with John Wayne playing Davy Crockett.The Alamoruns for 3 hours and 22 minutes, beatingGiantby merely one minute.
At the time of its release,The Alamowas the fourth-longest Best Picture nominee, with it only being beaten byBen-Hur,The Ten Commandments, andGone with the Wind. Since then, however, several other Best Picture nominees have managed to beatThe Alamo’s runtime, putting it in ninth place.The Alamowas nominated at the 33rd Academy Awards, with it being nominated alongsideElmer Gantry,Sons and Lovers,The Sundowners, and the Best Picture winner,The Apartment.
Killers of the Flower Moonis one of the more recent films to have broken into the top 10 longest Best Picture nominees, but it isn’t the newest. The 2023 Martin Scorsese film has found its space in eighth place,with the 2023 movie running for 3 hours and 26 minutes. The film tells the true story of the Osage Indian murders, with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Ernest Burkhart, Lily Gladstone playing Mollie Burkhart, and Robert De Niro playing William King Hale.
At the time of its release,Killers of the Flower Moonwas the seventh-longest Best Picture nominee, with it being pushed back to eighth place with the release of 2024’sThe Brutalist. Interestingly, the film that is currently in seventh place is another Martin Scorsese film, 2019’sThe Irishman.Killers of the Flower Moonwas nominated at the 96th Academy Awards, with it being nominated alongsideAmerican Fiction,Anatomy of a Fall,Barbie,The Holdovers,Maestro,Past Lives,Poor Things,The Zone of Interest, and the Best Picture winner,Oppenheimer.
Martin Scorsese has two films that are sitting in the top 10 longest Best Picture nominees, withThe Irishmansitting directly aboveKillers of the Flower Moon.The 2019 film runs for 3 hours and 29 minutes, with it telling the story of Robert De Niro’s Frank Sheeran. Starting in the 1950s, the film follows Frank as he enters the world of organized crime, with the massive gangster epic going all the way until the year 2000.
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WhenThe Irishmanwas released, it was the sixth-longest Best Picture nominees of all time, with it only being pushed back whenThe Brutalistwas released in 2024. On top of that,The Irishmanwas the longest Best Picture nominee to have been released since 1963’sCleopatra.The Irishmanwas nominated at the 92nd Academy Awards, with it being nominated alongsideFord v Ferrari,Jojo Rabbit,Joker,Little Women,Marriage Story,1917,Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and the Best Picture winner,Parasite.
The 1959 religious epicBen-Huris next on the list, with the movie’s length being one of its most famous attributes. The William Wyler film stars Charlton Heston as the titular rebel against the Roman Empire, with the film following him as he is forced into slavery and attempts to overthrow the oppressive government.Ben-Hurruns for a whopping 3 hours and 32 minutes, putting it three minutes aboveThe Irishman.
Unlike the previous entries on this list,Ben-Huractually won Best Picture, with it taking home a whopping 11 of the 12 Oscars that it was nominated for.Ben-Hurtook home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration - Color, Best Cinematography - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, Best Music - Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and Best Special Effects. In Best Picture,Ben-Hurwas nominated alongsideAnatomy of a Murder,The Diary of Anne Frank,The Nun’s Story, andRoom at the Top.
2024’sThe Brutalistis the most recent entry on this list, with it currently sitting as the fifth-longest Best Picture nominee of all time.The Brutalistruns for 3 hours and 35 minutes, with the Brady Corbet movie following Adrian Brody’s László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who moves to the United States and begins working on a major project.
The Brutalistis nominated at the 97th Academy Awards, which have not occurred as of the writing of this article.The Brutalistis nominated alongsideAnora,A Complete Unknown,Conclave,Dune: Part Two,Emilia Pérez,I’m Still Here,Nickel Boys,The Substance, andWicked. IfThe Brutalistdoes win Best Picture, it will make it one of the longest Best Picture winners of all time.
1956’sThe Ten Commandmentsis currently the fourth-longest Best Picture nominee,with the film running for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, the Biblical epic tells the story of Moses, following him from his time as a baby until his people are led to the Promised Land.The Ten Commandmentsstars Charlton Heston as Moses, making him a two-timer on this list after his starring role inBen-Hur.
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UnlikeBen-Hur, however,The Ten Commandmentsdid not win Best Picture. The film was nominated at the 29th Academy Awards, alongside the previously discussedGiantas well asFriendly Persuasion,The King and I, and the Best Picture winner,Around the World in 80 Days.
1962’sLawrence of Arabiais another iconic movie, with it being the third-longest Best Picture nominee of all time.Lawrence of Arabiaruns for 3 hours and 47 minutes, with the epic historical drama telling the story of T.E. Lawrence, played by Peter O’Toole in the film. The film follows Lawrence as he is sent to Arabia in order to find Prince Faisal and communicate between the Brits and the Arabs in the midst of a war.
LikeBen-Hur,Lawrence of Arabiais another incredibly long historical epicthat won Best Picture.Lawrence of Arabiamanaged to beat its fellow nominees,The Longest Day,The Music Man,Mutiny on the Bounty, andTo Kill a Mockingbird.Lawrence of Arabiahas gone on to become one of the most famous and critically acclaimed movies of all time, with its length not hindering its popularity.
1939’sGone with the Windis another famously long movie that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture,with it running for 3 hours and 58 minutes. Victor Fleming’s iconic and controversial film is set in the South during the Civil War, with it following Scarlett O’Hara as she lives on a plantation throughout the war.
Gone with the Windwas nominated at the 12th Academy Awards, with it being the oldest film on this list.Gone with the Windwas nominated for thirteen categories, winning Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing.Gone with the Windwas nominated for Best Picture alongsideDark Victory,Goodbye, Mr. Chips,Love Affair,Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,Ninotchka,Of Mice and Men,Stagecoach,The Wizard of Oz, andWuthering Heights.
1963’sCleopatrais an incredibly influential and infamous film, with one of the many notable facts about it being that it is the longest Best Picture nominee ever.Cleopatraruns for a whopping 4 hours and 4 minutes in its longest version. The 244-minute runtime was present atCelopatra’s premiere, although the film was shortened to various lengths after its release. The 3 hour and 53 minute cut is the most prominently seen one, although there are 221-minute cuts and 184-minute cuts that were released during the film’s original theatrical run.
Cleopatrawas nominated at the 36th Academy Awards, with it being nominated for Best Picture alongsideAmerica America,How the West Was Won,Lilies of the Field, and the Best Picture winner,Tom Jones.Cleopatramay not have won Best Picture, but it has managed to go down inOscarshistory as the longest Best Picture nominee of all time.
