Watching Hollywood films in Indian cinemas usually means an added interval, even if the movie was not made with one in mind. But the recent release of Superman took this to a whole new level. Audiences were left confused and annoyed after experiencing not one but two intervals during their movie experience.
The new Superman film has a runtime of 2 hours and 9 minutes. Warner Bros. had already accounted for Indian viewing preferences by including an official interval at around the 80-minute mark. This decision was made to protect the impact of a key scene. The studio believed an earlier break would disrupt the tension and flow of the story. Theatres were informed in advance of this arrangement.
However, despite the studio’s planning, many theatres still inserted their own interval much earlier, around the halfway mark. This meant that when the actual interval arrived, with a slate and the usual anti-smoking ad, the film paused again, frustrating viewers who thought the movie was resuming for good.
One viewer, Harshad Bende, who saw the film at PVR Lodha Xperia in Palava, described the experience. “The first interval came after an hour. About 30 minutes later, another official interval slate appeared. It disrupted the film completely,” he said. “The theatre manager had no explanation and looked just as confused as the audience.”
Another moviegoer, Nayan B Rathod, watched Superman at Inox Old GMC in Panaji, Goa. He, too, witnessed two intervals and shared that the audience was left wondering which one was real. He added, “We feared the movie would resume from the wrong place.”
Fortunately, the number of complaints began to drop by Saturday. Warner Bros. reminded cinema chains again that no extra interval should be added since the film already contains one.
In contrast, Maalik, another release that week, had a scheduled interval after one hour, with a longer second half. The situation with Superman highlights the ongoing problem of how international films are sometimes adapted for Indian viewing, and how poor communication between studios and cinemas can affect the audience experience.
Studios and cinema operators will hopefully take better care going forward to ensure that carefully crafted narratives are not interrupted by unexpected breaks.
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