The Creator director Gareth Edwards revealed that the initial cut of the John David Washington-led film was five hours long.

During a special Q+A IMAX event, Edwards spoke (via Collider) about the challenges of making The Creator. While he couldn't name a specific thing that was challenging, he did mention “the duration of it,” meaning the production.

“We started filming in January 2022, and we finished in June. There were six months nonstop of 40 degree heat (in Celsius, which is 104 degrees Fahrenheit), dying every day,” he recalled.

He then spoke about the initial cut of The Creator, which was five hours long. “The first cut of this movie was five hours long,” Edwards revealed. “We had so much great, cool material. Everything that's in this film is all the best stuff of that material. The editing process was basically a game of Jenga, where we would pull things out and see if we missed it, or if it fell apart. We were like, ‘When we get this down to two hours, if there's anything anyone misses or wants to put back in, you'll be allowed to do it.'”

How many shots did Edwards and his crew put back in? Five. “We put five shots back in. There were five little moments. That old adage of less is more is right, most of the time,” he concluded.

Gareth Edwards was the director of the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One. He now moves into The Creator, which follows a man (played by John David Washington) who's tasked with killing the titular Creator. Additionally, he has to take out a weapon that could take out the whole world. He soon discovers that weapon is a child.

The Creator will be released on September 29.