How long was the first version of the movie "Heaven's Gate"?

The first version of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate ran 5 hours and 25 minutes, or 325 minutes.

This was not the finished theatrical release but a workprint that Cimino screened for United Artists executives on June 26, 1980. Cimino reportedly described it as only about 15 minutes longer than the final cut he expected to deliver, but the studio executives rejected the extraordinary running time and demanded further editing.

The film was eventually reduced to a 219-minute version for its 1980 premiere. After disastrous reviews and severe commercial criticism, Cimino recut it again into a 149-minute version released in 1981. These multiple cuts explain why different sources give different running times for Heaven’s Gate. The 325-minute figure specifically identifies the earliest known workprint shown to the studio, making 5 hours and 25 minutes the accepted answer to this wording.

Heaven’s Gate became notorious for its production delays, escalating budget, and role in the collapse of United Artists as an independent studio. Its reputation has since been reassessed by some critics.