List of films with longest production time +How Long Does it Take to Make a Movie — Production Timeline

One of the most astounding facts of cinema is how long it takes to produce a movie that runs an hour and a half. How could something rather short in time take years to produce? How long does it take to make a movie? In this article, we’ll break down every phase of the filmmaking production process. We’ll also take a look at how long each phase typically takes in the production of a standard Hollywood studio film. From the birth of the concept to the final cut, here is every phase of the film production timeline. 

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A MOVIE

Development (~2 years)

Every film starts with a concept. The concept of a story may come from a screenwriter, director, or even producer. To develop this concept into an actual film, a screenplay needs to be written. If the concept does not originally come from a screenwriter, a writer is typically contracted to write a script or at the very least a treatment. 

▰Throughout this development phase, the story and screenplay are refined through collaboration between the screenwriter(s), producer, studio, and/or director. Typically, after a reasonable script is produced, the producer of the project takes on meetings to secure financing for the film, because without a reasonable budget, a film cannot get made. 

▰The entire development phase of the filmmaking process varies substantially. It all depends on various elements. Was the script contracted out to be written by a studio? In this case, the development phase is shorter since financing is less of an issue. Was the script written and bought? This situation may be more difficult and take longer to fund the film. 

▰As it pertains to Hollywood studio films, the average time for development was around 800 days. Again, this varies between movie genres. This graph created by StephenFollows.com shows how the length of the development phase depends on the genre of the film. 

        PRE PRODUCTION TIMELINE

Pre-production (~ 3 to 7 months)

Before any lights are turned on, any camera speeds, or any director calls action, preparations have to be made. This phase of preparation is called pre-production. How long does pre production take? Before we dive into that let’s analyze what it involves.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO TO SHOOT A MOVIE

Principal Photography (~1 to 4 months)

Principal photography is the phase in filmmaking during which the film is actually shot. How long does it take to shoot a movie? First let’s get an understanding of what this entails.

This means on-set production for however long it takes until the entire film is shot and can be brought into post-production. This ties in various aspects of filmmaking such as cinematography, production design, and film direction.

HOW LONG DO MOVIES TAKE TO FILM

Post-production (~7 months to 1 year)

Many think of post-production as simply the editing phase of a film. While this is true, there are many other elements that go into post-production. Once the edit of a film is locked, meaning no other cuts need to be made based on the director and sometime’s studio’s approval, various elements need to be added. 

This includes VFX, music, sound design, and color grading. Here is a great, in-depth video by Wolfcrow breaking down the phases of post-production. 

𝚂𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢.            

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈...

Film	Release year	Number of years	Notes
5-25-77	2017	13	Shooting began in summer 2004. Numerous versions of the film have been screened over the years, including a rough cut at Star Wars Celebration IV. It officially premiered in 2017 followed by a limited theatrical release, but has not yet been made widely available as of 2022.
A Tree of Palme	2002	10	Directed and written Takashi Nakamura, the film took seven years to plan out and was produced over three and a half years.
The Act of Killing	2012	8	Work on the film began in 2005.
Amra Ekta Cinema Banabo (The Innocence)	2019	9	Principal photography began January 2009. The filming was completed in 176 days of shooting over 9 years. Also notable for being the longest non-experimental film ever made.
Avatar 2	2022	12	This film was announced in 2010 after the release of Avatar with writing and visual effects prep work happening simultaneously for seven years. Filming began in 2017 and concluded in 2020. It was one of the films affected by COVID-19.[6] By the time of its intended December 2022 release, it will have been nearly 13 years since production began.
Bad Taste	1987	4	Shot primarily on weekends over the course of four years.
BalikBayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment, Redux VI	Most recent release: 2017	38	Kidlat Tahimik began shooting in 1979, with the film being released unfinished in 2010, 2015 (Redux III) and 2017; film production is still ongoing.
Begotten	1989	4	An experimental film by director E. Elias Merhige, the director worked mainly alone and had to act as uncredited roles in the film.
Blood Tea and Red String	2006	13	A stop-motion film. Director Christiane Cegavske worked primarily alone.
Boyhood	2014	12	Filming took place once or twice a year, starting in summer 2002 and ending in October 2013. The cast and crew gathered to film scenes for three or four days annually.
Anji	2004	7	Shooting of the film began on 10 October 1997. It is the first Telugu film to win the National Film Award for Best Special Effects at that time.
Anna: 6 - 18	1993	13	A documentary film by director Nikita Mikhalkov, which was shot during a period of thirteen years, from 1980 to 1993 depicting his eldest daughter, Anna.
Coffee and Cigarettes	2003	18	The first segment filmed in 1986, while the final six were completed in 2003.
Dimension	2010	7	Filming took place in three-minute segments from 1991 to 1997. The original plan was to film once a year, from 1991 until 2024, but director Lars von Trier abandoned the project in the late 1990s. The finished footage was released on DVD in 2010.[16][17]
Dangerous Men	2005	21	The film was in production from 1984 to 2005, despite screening of a finished cut in 1985.
Delgo	2008	6	The film started production in 2001. Two voice actors, Anne Bancroft and John Vernon, died during production.[citation needed]
Eraserhead	1977	6	Due to the minimal length of the script, director David Lynch struggled to finance his debut film.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time	2021	9	First announced in 2012 alongside Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, it was initially slated for a 2013 release, then a 2015 release, then was put on hold because Hideaki Anno was working on Shin Godzilla. Although a 2020 release was planned, it was further delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released on March 8, 2021.
Everyday	2012	5	Filming took place twice a year, once in summer and once in winter. The cast and crew gathered for a few weeks each time, whenever they had gaps in their schedules.
The Evil Within	2017	13	Originally titled The Storyteller, filming began in 2002, with director Andrew Getty constantly starting and stopping the film's production. Getty died in 2015, two years before the film's release with only editing and color correction remaining, leaving editor Michael Luceri to finish the film on his own.
Evolution of a Filipino Family	2004	11	The pre-production was started in December 1993 in Jersey City, and began photography on 8 March 1994 in New Jersey. The Philippine shoot started in early 1997 in Gerona, Tarlac. The shooting ended in April 2003. But more scenes were added October–November 2004, and finally stopped 31 January 2005. It is also one of the longest films ever made.
The Fall	2006	4	Shot in 24 countries.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	2001	3	Production started in October 1997, and the film was released in July 2001. It was the first CG animated film with photorealistic humans.
Finding Nemo	2003	6	Development started in 1997, and the film was released in 2003.
Flexing with Monty	2010	16	Shooting started in 1994 and was finally completed in 2008 during which both the film's male lead (Trevor Goddard), and the original producer died.
The Grand Bizarre	2018	5	Footage was collected in fifteen countries, including Turkey, Greece, Israel, Morocco and Indonesia.
Koyaanisqatsi	1982	7	The first part in the Qatsi trilogy directed by Godfrey Reggio. Production began in 1975 and ended in 1982.
Killer Bean Forever	2009	5	Killer Bean Forever is a CG-animated film that had a 5-year production period and was released in 2009. It was Jeff Lew's feature length directorial debut, who animated the film entirely by himself, and was also credited for producing, writing, editing, music and cinematography, along with voicing Jet Bean.
⬤Hard to Be a God	2013	7	Filming took place on and off for a period of seven years, beginning in the autumn of 2000 and was followed by an additional six years of post-production.
⬤Hell's Angels	1930	3	A Howard Hughes' fighting plane film, referenced in The Aviator. A long shooting schedule, made longer when Hughes decided to add sound at the advent of "talkies".[31]
⬤Hoop Dreams	1994	5	Filming included over 250 hours of footage. Originally planned to be a 30-minute piece for PBS, Hoop Dreams developed into a 170-minute documentary that took three years to edit.[32]
⬤Horizon Blue	2019	24	Hiroshi Harada started production on the film in 1995, and finished production in 2019. It had its world premiere at the Kanazawa Film Fest on September 23, 2019.
⬤Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam	2002	6	It took six years to make, with long sabbaticals between shoots due to production problems.[33]
⬤Inside Out	2015	5	Development lasted for five and a half years, with three of its duration for the production.[34]
⬤It Happened Here	1964	7	Filmed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, who began work on the film as teenagers, with a cast that mostly consisted of amateur actors.[35]
⬤Jet Pilot	1957	8	A Howard Hughes' fighting plane film which was shot between 1949 and 1951.[citation needed]
⬤Khrustalyov, My Car!	1998	7	Production lasted for seven years due to difficulties in financial backing.[36]
⬤Los resucitados	2017	23	Filming began in 1994 on both video and 8 mm. First rough cut was assembled in 1997, but lost shortly thereafter. It was later discovered, incomplete, with portions of audio missing. Final cut with a completely new dub was released to film festivals (including Sitges Film Festival) in 2017.[37][38]
⬤Mad God	2021	30	A stop-motion animated film by Phil Tippett, production was shelved for 20 years before resuming in 2013.
⬤Man in the Mirror	2008	38	Work began in 1970 and completed in 2008.[citation needed]
⬤Marketa Lazarová	1967	7	Works started in 1960 and finished in 1967.
Marwencol	2010	4	A documentary film initially planned to be shot over a single weekend, the director ultimately took four years to complete it.[40]
⬤Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin	2004	10	Work on the film began in 1994. Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin (transl. My wife is incredible) is a 2004 Indian film directed by Pankaj Parashar and produced by S. M. Iqbal. It stars Sridevi. The film was shot in 1994 and delayed for 10 years, finally releasing in 2004.
⬤Meru	2015	3	The first portion took place in 2008, while the final portion was shot in 2011.[41]
⬤Movie 43	2013	4	Filming spanned four years in order to work around the ensemble cast members' schedules.[42]
⬤Mughal-e-Azam	1960	14	From its beginning in 1946 to its release in 1960, several crew members including the producer and cast were changed. The film was also abandoned briefly during the Partition of India.[43]
⬤On the Silver Globe	1988	12	After production was shutdown by the Polish cultural authorities in 1977, the film's director, Andrzej Żuławski, returned to Poland in 1988 and smuggled out the remnants of the film to the Cannes Film Festival where it was screened for the first time. The missing segments of the film were filled in with shots of modern-day Warsaw while Zulawski's voice-over explained which segments were missing.[citation needed]
⬤On-Gaku: Our Sound	2019	7	Directed and mostly animated by Kenji Iwaisawa, who worked on the film for over seven years.
⬤Othello	1951	3	An adaptation of the Shakespeare play directed by Orson Welles. The total production time stretched from 1948 to 1952.[44] Welles also produced Filming Othello, a documentary about the making from 1974 to 1978.[45]
⬤The Other Side of the Wind	2018	48	Principal photography began in 1970 and concluded in 1976. After four decades of difficulties that interfered with the editorial and post-production processes, the film was finished earlier in 2018 and was released in November 2018.[46]
⬤The Overcoat	TBD	41	An adaptation of the short story written by Nikolai Gogol, directed by Yuri Norstein.
⬤Pakeezah	1972	16	Filming began in 1956 and continued until 1964 when lead actress Meena Kumari separated from the director, Kamal Amrohi, her husband. The film was put on hold for five years until fellow actors Nargis and Sunil Dutt convinced Kumari to finish it in 1969.[47]
⬤Perspective	2020	9	A Canadian feature film wherein each of its nine chapters was completed a year apart over a nine-year period. The first eight of the nine chapters were completed in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, with the last chapter completed in 2020.[48]
⬤Redline	2009	7	Animated over seven years using 100,000 hand-made drawings.[49]
⬤Roar	1981	11	Directed by Noel Marshall, the film's production was constantly delayed after numerous accidents arose, such as a flood from a dam that burst three years into filming, which destroyed equipment and the ranch built for the film.
⬤Samsara	2011	4	Filmed on location in 25 different countries.
⬤Shoah	1985	11	The first six years were devoted to recording interviews conducted in 14 different countries.[52]
⬤Shrek	2001	6	Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to adapt the book by William Steig in 1991, and the film project was put into active development in 1995.
⬤Shōjo Tsubaki	1992	5	Work began in 1987 and was finished in 1992.[citation needed]
⬤Sleeping Beauty	1959	7	Disney animated film; production spanned 1951 to 1958.[citation needed]
⬤Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection	2009	25	First announced in 1984 for a 1987 release. After going through several different revisions, production made some steps in 1993, but got put on hold. Resurrection was finally released in 2009. It was intended to be the start of a new film series, which got cut short in 2010 due to Yoshinobu Nishizaki death.
⬤Steamboy	2004	10	Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the film was in production for ten years and utilized more than 180,000 drawings and 440 CG cuts.
⬤The Slow Business of Going	2000	5	Shot one scene at a time over a period of five years in hotel rooms and other locations in various countries. The script was constantly evolving and there was just one consistent cast member, with various other actors appearing in each scene.
⬤The Story of Film: An Odyssey	2011	5	Shot over a period of five years around the world.
⬤The Tale of the Princess Kaguya	2013	8	Work began in 2005 with no deadlines. It was officially announced in 2008 and completed in 2013. This was Isao Takahata's final film, having died in 2018.[54]
⬤Tellurian	2016	4	A film produced My Iron Star Films. Despite claims the film is nearly finished the expected release date is yet to be confirmed with insiders claiming this could be as late as 2026. Crowdfunded, a number of disgruntled investors are still to receive products that were promised to them on investment.
⬤The Thief and the Cobbler	1993	29	Work began in 1964 and was finished in 1993.[55]
⬤Tiefland	1954	20	Script work began in 1934, shooting lasted from 1940 to 1944, and the film was finally shown in 1954.[56]
⬤Toy Story	1995	5	Development began in 1990 as a follow-up to the Pixar short film Tin Toy, tentatively titled A Tin Toy Christmas.
⬤The Tragedy of Man	2011	23	The film went into production in 1988 but encountered difficulties as the production model for Hungarian cinema changed.[57]
⬤Train Station	2017	5	Filmed in 25 countries, 40 filmmakers collaboratively wrote and shot over a period of five years.[58]
⬤Twenty Years Later	1984	20	Work began in 1964 and was finished in 1984.[citation needed]
⬤Voyage of Time	2016	13	Although the actual production for this documentary began in 2003, Terrence Malick has been filming footage since the 1970s and the film features scenes that were filmed in the 1970s, such as the scene featuring Aboriginal Australians.[59]
⬤Where the Dead Go to Die	2011	3	Director, animator, writer and composer Jimmy ScreamerClauz would stop animating the adult animated horror film for months at a time, before starting again.[60]
⬤Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East	1989	7	Bae Yong-kyun, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, spent seven years making this film with one camera and editing it by hand.
⬤Why Is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?	1994	13	Kidlat Tahimik began filming in 1981