Update: Suicide Squad Runtime Revealed?

06/24/2016 09:45 am EDT

Update: As it turns out, despite Flixster/Fandango being an incredibly reliable source, according to director David Ayer, this is not the final runtime of Suicide Squad. The director tweeted out this morning that it was "not true," but did not reveal the actual runtime.

With exactly six weeks until release, this sort of information should be revealed soon. Early tracking for films typically hits about three weeks before release, so we should see an official runtime by then at the very latest.

Original: In a new update on the Flixster website, owned and operated by online ticket sales site Fandango, the runtime for Suicide Squad has been revealed as 1 hour and 40 minutes. That's a significant time for a number of reasons.

First, the last movie from DC Films, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice clocked in at two and a half hours, with the "Ultimate Edition" hitting three hours, nearly double the length of Suicide Squad. It's interesting to note as well, that movie was serving just three heroes (Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman), with three more significant characters (Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Doomsday). Squad meanwhile has eleven main characters (judging by the 11 character posters released), with at least two principal players remaining a mystery, including the main villain and Scott Eastwood's character. It's a large ensemble to have in a film less than two hours long.

On the bright side, this should mean a very tight and action-heavy story. We know it'll take a bit of time for Harley Quinn's origin story alongside the Joker, and June Moon's possession by The Enchantress, and with this timeline, everything else should move fairly quickly. It also falls in line with director David Ayer's previous films, as both Sabotage and End of Watch clocked in at 1 hour, 49 minutes (though his most recent flick, Fury, was 2 hours, 14 minutes).

After the slightly disappointing box office performance and definitely disappointing critical performance of Batman v Superman, the industry will be looking very closely at Suicide Squad - yes, it's a different branch of the new DC Films universe, but it's still in the unenviable position of being the next one in line. With early positive buzz, both over the film and individual performances, though, it looks like the tight runtime might just be another positive.

Suicide Squad hits theaters August 6, 2016.

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