'Downsizing' director Alexander Payne thinks his movie was "too short".
Alexander Payne
The drama film, which stars Matt Damon, is widely recognised as one of the most ambitious studio movies in recent times, but Alexander has bemoaned the length of the drama, which is 135 minutes from start to finish.
He said: "In a way, I think it's too short. If those same narrative structures had been draped over nine hours of a miniseries, audiences may have been more forgiving.
"It starts one place, you could never guess where it had been going. That may have been a benefit rather than a liability. But I think that trying to shoehorn it into a less than two and a half hour film narrative? It's a little too quick."
'Downsizing' divided fans and critics, but Alexander remains proud of his movie, which focuses on a couple who shrink their bodies so they can begin a new life.
However, the film flopped at the box office, failing to recoup the money spent on it by the studio.
Speaking to Den of Geek, Alexander reflected: "I'm proud of the film, and a lot of us - not just me, I'm merely first among equals - put a lot of heart and soul and love into this film.
"Some people really dig it and get it. But, y'know, you can't control fate. You can't control the world, and the timing of the world in which you release a film.
"I am not averring this, but kind friends, and not so kind friends have said to me it's a really good movie, and in a few years time people will discover it, or rediscover it as the case may be.
"I think they're trying to make me feel better, to be honest. But enough people have told me that to make me curious as to whether that's true."
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