‘VIVANT’ Movie Runtime Set at 148 Minutes — Fans React: “Over Two Hours, Seriously?!” “That’s Insane”

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The story

It has been reported that the movie adaptation of the TBS drama ‘VIVANT’ will have a main runtime of 148 minutes. Some theaters are listing the total screening time—including trailers and other content—as 170 minutes, confirming this will be an epic clocking in at over two and a half hours. On 5ch forums, the news sparked surprised reactions like “Over two hours, seriously?!” and “Everything about this is just insane,” while discussion also turned to concerns about the slow, over-explanatory pacing that plagued the TV series, questions about where it will stream, and plot points like whether the character Wada is alive or dead.

Mon, 11/9 2:05 PM

The main runtime for the movie “VIVANT,” starring actor Masato Sakai, has been set at 148 minutes. The epic feature, running roughly two and a half hours, will open nationwide on December 4. Some theaters list the total screening time—including trailers and other content—as 170 minutes, prompting reactions online such as “What an epic!”, “Over two hours, seriously?!”, and “Everything about this is just insane.”

The film is a movie adaptation of “VIVANT,” a completely original drama that aired on TBS’s “Sunday Theater” slot in the July 2023 season. Katsuo Fukuzawa, known for the “Hanzawa Naoki” and “Shitamachi Rocket” series, serves as director, original creator, screenwriter, and producer. Akira Senju is the chief music supervisor, with music also contributed by Tatsuhiko Saiki and Shu Kanematsu. So far, Sakai is the only confirmed cast member.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:28
Bet the first hour or so
is just a recap
11AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:34
Re: #3
Yeah, the recap and resolution bits are way too exposition-heavy
55AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:22
Re: #3
They're probably walking through the desert for like an hour
5AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:29
Is this just a clip-show recap movie!?
29AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:46
Re: #5
They filmed the movie footage at the same time as Season 2
6AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:30
They should've hidden the title for the movie version. Like, 'It was a huge TV hit, but there's an extra T! Don't pronounce it!'” (a joke poking fun at how pretentious "VIVANT" sounds if you pronounce the final T, French-style)
7AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:30
If a middle-aged guy goes to see this alone, will someone call the cops on him?
48AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:06
Re: #7
There are middle-aged guys who go see Pretty Cure movies solo, so you'll be fine
10AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:34
This is a Toho film too, right?
Is there any benefit to releasing it a month after their own Godzilla movie?
14AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:36
Can't wait. Let's all try to survive until it comes out
15AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:37
They kept saying it'd run two straight cours, but then it got preempted twice for the Asian Games and still wrapped up in early November.
The infiltration arc dragged on forever too — the movie's probably going to be padded out the same way
17AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:38
Re: #15
You're clearly a huge fan lol
16AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:37
A movie over two hours is rough on an old man's stiff bladder (´・ω・`)
24AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:43
Re: #16
Eating popcorn actually helps you not need the bathroom
Movie theater trivia for ya
37AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:54
Re: #16
That's where Bontan Ame comes in” (a soft citrus candy some believe helps hold off bathroom urges)
60AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:30
Re: #16
Avengers: Endgame was 3 hours and so good I didn't even notice the time.
Hoping VIVANT ("DD") delivers the same way
19AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:38
Just the clunky 'actually, here's what really happened back then' flashback scenes are probably going to eat up a whole hour by themselves
20AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:40
That's less than 3 episodes' worth. Is that really enough to wrap things up completely, or is this just a setup for Season 3?
21AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:42
If it were like 30 minutes, sure, that'd be surprising
but 2.5 hours is pretty common these days, isn't it?
22AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:42
Doesn't it bug the people who looked forward to it every week?
They probably thought the show would wrap up on its own, only to find out the ending's locked behind the movie
23AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:43
Re: #17
Haven't watched Season 2 at all, but you can probably piece it together just from the hater posts here, right?
25AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:44
If each episode runs around 45 minutes, that's about 4 episodes' worth
27AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:45
It'd be funny if it turns out to be split into Part 1 and Part 2 on top of that
28AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:45
It's old guys making a show for old guys, that's why the exposition drags on forever
31AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:47
The target audience is middle-aged guys, right?
You sure your bladders can handle it?
35AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:51
When Kamen Rider Decade ended by pushing the resolution onto the movie, it became a BPO (Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization) complaint and the TV Asahi president had to apologize.
Doesn't this fall into the same category? What do people who are actually watching think?
40AnonymousNov 9, 2026 14:57
Re: #35
I think it technically does end with a wedding, at least.
The 'there might be more to come' teasing has always been a pretty common thing
68AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:35
No need to go all the way to the theater for this.
It'll air on TV eventually anyway, and it'll probably hit Amazon Prime or Netflix too
75AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:37
Re: #68
It's a TBS show, so wouldn't it be a U-NEXT exclusive?
76AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:38
If there's going to be a Season 3, bring Wada back already
87AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:53
Re: #76
There were a bunch of suspicious scenes, so it wouldn't be weird if it turns out Wada was actually alive all along
81AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:45
Kill Bill runs four and a half hours lol
84AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:50
Re: #81
That's counting both Volume 1 and Volume 2 back to back lol
89AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:55
This is definitely going to be a movie that doesn't even come close to 'The Man Who Stole the Sun'” (a classic 1979 Japanese thriller)
90AnonymousNov 9, 2026 15:56
Did the TV series wrap up on its own?
Or is this the whole 'the rest continues in theaters' pattern?
95AnonymousNov 9, 2026 16:00
Re: #90
It wrapped up cleanly.
Everyone took a group photo together at the end lol

Background and key points of this discussion

“VIVANT” was an original drama starring Masato Sakai that aired on TBS’s “Sunday Theater” slot in 2023, drawing attention for its story of a trading company employee caught up with the mysterious organization “VIVANT.” The movie version is directed, written, and produced by Katsuo Fukuzawa of “Hanzawa Naoki” and “Shitamachi Rocket” fame, and is set to open on December 4, though Sakai remains the only confirmed cast member so far. Given that typical Japanese films run around two hours, 148 minutes is on the long side, and the thread was split between those speculating it might be a clip-show recap and those worried the exposition-heavy pacing of the TV series would carry over. It’s also worth noting that the 170-minute runtime some theaters list includes trailers and ads, so it should be distinguished from the 148-minute main feature. Some posters guessed the streaming rights would go exclusively to U-NEXT given the TBS connection, but as of this writing there’s been no official announcement — that remains pure speculation from the thread.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “‘VIVANT’ Movie’s ‘Shocking News’ — 148-Minute Runtime Stuns the Internet: “Over Two Hours, Seriously?!” “That’s Insane”“.

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