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I found the following sentence:
我很长时间没看电影了。
Wǒ hěn cháng shíjiān méi kàn diànyǐngle.
I haven't watched a movie in a very long time.
I believe 很长时间 (very long time) is the duration of the action 没看 (haven't watched).
Q1: Why is it located before the verb when duration should go after the verb?
Q2: Does the final 了 indicate a change of status suggesting the speaker wants to watch a movie soon?
Q1: Why is it located before the verb when duration should go after the verb?
The explanation you posted in your comment is correct. Reposting it here for clarity: when expressing the duration of an inaction, the duration complement goes before the verb, following the pattern:
Duration + 没 + Verb + 了
Q2: Does the final 了 indicate a change of status suggesting the speaker wants to watch a movie soon?
No, it indicates the change of status that occurred when you started not doing something.
In your example, it's the change from watching movies to not watching movies.
