What is it about going to at 12:01am screening? Have you ever thought to ask yourself this question, ask yourself why you need to see a new film at midnight (or later)?
Has the marketing for films really worked to train us to think that you MUST see the first screening? There are always advance screenings, previews with cocktail parties, special advance tickets available. You can always see it after opening day. The 12:01am screening gets pushed to the 12:30am screening, to the 1am screening. Movie theaters have the film print ready- there really is no need. Or is this the greatest promotion for the blockbuster film?
For me, there is no place I would rather be. The movie theater is about the experience- and what better way to be shoved in line in between tweens dressed up as Hogwarts students and the middle-aged couple that is on the "perfect" date.
In movie theaters around the country we get to stand in line for two hours (at the minimum) before being let into a theater where we sit for another hour. Here is where the true fans get to show their devotion to the story or cast or comic book-because when else is it socially acceptable to dress-up as Spiderman and crawl around on the floor (except at Comic-Con, of course). This is an event- something that brings audiences together for one sharred experience.
An interesting thing to note, besides the mass number of people with wands that pretend to cast spells on one another, is that these screenings keep getting pushed earlier in the week. Think back to the days when Friday night was the opening night of the film. Then came the midnight screenings on Thursday night...which made sense when you think about it- it is "technically" Friday. And what a brilliant idea this is! The weekend box office is now open for an extra twelve hours. Only a few films get this kind of love-the blockbuster. It is as if the public demand has created these screening advances, but don't you worry, there is a lot of money being made because of it.
Now I'm in line on a Tuesday night at 9pm, getting out of a theater at 3am on Wednesday morning, with my wake-up time looming in the near future, having to get up to go to work. This isn't a complaint, simply an observation. "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" set a new record for the midnight box office, making $22.2 million in one night! The statistics for it's opening day have not been completely totaled, but you can bet that its weekend box office gross will be huge.
I guess this is just something to think about. What happens when we are waiting in theaters on Monday nights for a film opening on Tuesday or even Sunday nights for a Monday film? I don't think it could ever bend more into the weekend, but it does not seem very far fetched. It's thoughts like this that pass through my head while I sit in packed theaters at twelve thirty at night, cheering for Harry Potter. It really makes me realize how much I love film's ability to bring people together. This does not mean that we should overlook the repercussions of our own demands. If we didn't go to these screenings, they would cease to be booked- but then we might have to see Harry Potter clones in daylight and where is the magic in that?
*Review of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince coming soon
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1 comment:
Nice job. When I was in high school, being first meant staying the night outside the theater and ditching school to see Star Trek III, Temple of Doom, Return of the Jedi. Much like waiting for concert tickets outside record shops, no one would sleep from all the excitement as like-minded folks hung out.
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