How long is Andy Warhol’s experimental film Empire?

Andy Warhol’s experimental film Empire lasts eight hours and five minutes.

Filmed on the night of July 25–26, 1964, Empire presents a largely fixed view of the Empire State Building from the Rockefeller Foundation offices. The camera barely moves, and the film records the building as daylight fades and its lights become visible.

The footage was shot at 24 frames per second but intended to be projected at 16 frames per second. That projection choice slowed the film and extended its running time to 485 minutes. The unusual duration is therefore part of the work’s conceptual design, not simply a recording error.

Empire is often discussed alongside Warhol’s Sleep, another long-duration film. Sleep focuses on a sleeping person, while Empire turns an urban landmark into the subject of sustained observation.