New Bond film Spectre could be almost three hours long

James Bond's latest outing Spectre will be in cinemas very soon, and we could be in for an epic ride.

A couple of places are currently reporting on the running time of the new film, and it's not on the short side. Estimate are coming in at somewhere around 155 to a staggering 160 minutes. That's almost three full hours of Bond.

It's not a massive surprise when you consider a few things. Firstly the trailers released to date have been showing a wide range of content from the Mexican day of the dead shenanigans which kick things off to all sorts of superspy problems and a new villain. That's on top of not one but two Bond girls in the form of Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci. And Naomi Harris' Moneypenny might be in for a squeeze or two as well.

The other consideration is a wider one, dealing with the continuing sprawl of movies well past the two hour mark. It's been a part of blockbuster Hollywood flicks for awhile now, perhaps tied to the supposition that audiences want to feel like they're getting their moneys worth. In practise, it's led to a culture of films which could easily lose 20-30 minutes from their flabby middles, and audiences having to nip out for a second popcorn as the second act lingers on.

Skyfall mostly managed to avoid that issue, though arguably the entire finale feels like it belongs in a different film. It clocked in at an already-meatu 143 minutes, just a fraction shorter than Casino Royale.

But oh for the days of Connery and Moore, where things were at their nippiest and one could be out with trailers in under 2 hours. Dr No, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice, Tomorrow Never Dies and Diamonds are Forever all just about beat the 120 minute mark but Bond has never been a 90 minute affair. One interesting fact is that 2008s Quantum of Solace is a very spry 107 minutes. But it's still terrible.

Spectre is in cinemas on the 26th of October 2015.