The Difference Between a Movie Premiere and the Realease?
The movie Premiere is the red carpet release of the movie where all the people that worked on or in the movie go to view the final product. It is the only theater that is showing the movie in that particular time. It is the first showing of the movie EVER. The movie release isthe date when it is shown nation and world wide in multiple theaters are showing the movie .
What's the best thing to wear for a movie premiere in New York City?
Wear only what looks great on you, not what is "HOT" unless that is what makes your body rock! The rule of fashion on the red carpet is easy, look in the mirror before you walk out the door! Seriously! I heard this from the critics the other day. They said," look in the mirror" and "take one item off just before leaving" I assume he means like a piece of jewelery or coat or something so you don't look over done. Chocolate and white are in right now but I would tend to think about the movie before dressing too. For instance, if the movie is a classy, trashy, country, city slicker...well you know...then sort of dress for the movie too. If I were to go to M I 3 I would wear sexy casual. If I were to go to Harry Potters newest, I would wear something a bit bohemian. If it were a classic love story, I would wear something sleek and timeless. Have a great time!!!
What is the difference between a movie premiere and its first official release?
A film’s premiere is an invite-only red carpet event featuring the cast, filmmakers and invited press and is typically not open to the public.A premiere is not to be confused with the film’s opening date (aka the release date) - the opening date or release date is also the date shown on the film’s one sheet (poster), trailer and TV spots (ads that run on TV) signifying the date at which the film will be released in theatres nationally.So even if a film is opening at your local theatre, it is not the film’s premiere (contrary to popular usage of the term “premiere”) but rather the first local showing on the film’s opening day.
Do movie theaters show a movie once or twice the day before the movie’s official opening?
Back in the film projector days the projectionist would need to view a film to make sure the film runs correctly. Back when I was one we did a viewing for the director of Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright. Hilariously, the projectionist, nor me, had not screened it before the private viewing and put the reels together in the wrong order. As a result, the film played out of sequence. Wright, I guess, was pretty cool about it and even found some merit in the “editing choices” the projectionist made.Some reels were highly problematic. Titanic, for example, had a serious problem with static, do to the sheer size of the print. As a result, the film would bunch up around a pully, eventually snapping. When I was 18 and managing, this happened to me, just as the ship was sinking… As a result, we had to have an employee watch the reel full time.Today, however, things are ran digitally. As a result, these types of viewings are no longer mandatory. That said, an employee “can” view a screening in private if they wish.
Why are movies released on Thursdays?
That’s really pretty much it: money. Originally movies were mostly released on Fridays, and the earliest the general public could go and see it was during a midnight screening at 12 AM Friday (and these were usually only held for “big” movies). Then someone got the bright idea to do “preview” showings on Thursday evenings instead so that more people could come more easily. Now most major films have one or two showtimes on the evening of the day before their official Friday release dates at multiplexes, because once one studio started doing it, everyone else started so they wouldn’t be left behind.The key factor is the obsession with opening weekend box office. Most people don’t track a film’s box office performance beyond the opening weekend, as that tends to be when it gets the most media coverage outside of movie business specific websites. Thus, to create a positive public impression of the film as a success or a must-see - and to be able to brag to the other studios - film distributors try to get the biggest opening weekend numbers possible. Even though films now open on Thursday nights, the box office take from those showings is “officially” counted as part of Friday’s sales in studio box office reports. This allows them to dubiously inflate the opening weekend performance of their films. It’s kind of a stupid, truth-stretching concept, but all of the studios do it so nobody really cares.
How long does a movie typically stay in theaters?
There's no "typical" answer - films stay in theatres as long as they're still making money.If you look at any Box Office chart (Here's an example: Weekend Box Office) you'll see lots of films in their first week or two, to films that have run for more than a year (Educational 3D IMAX films for science centers often have very long runs since they cycle between locations regularly, and don't have the same pressure of new films coming out every week).It's also different based on time period and location (for example more contemporary smash hits like "Titanic" or "Avatar" both ran for ~40ish weeks. But back in the early 90s runs of >70 weeks for smashes like "Jurassic Park" were more common because there were fewer theatre screens overall, and much less home video, so even though fewer people were seeing movies overall they ran for longer periods of time).I think "Jurassic World" was the highest grossing film to open and complete it's theatrical run in 2015, at 23 weeks - so that would probably be a good high water mark for a modern big budget tent-pole film - but there's lots of smaller indie films that run for longer periods on fewer screens ("The Lady in the Van" at the same time ran for 27 weeks, but for all but 9 weeks of that was playing on less than 100 screens). It's also notable that home video windows are much shorter now so that it's common that films will be wildly available on other platforms within 20 weeks of theatrical release - which usually dramatically affects theatrical demand.On the other end of the spectrum there's absolutely movies that don't even finish their first full week - because their opening weekend was so bad, the screens got flipped over to better performing titles.I do find it interesting that in North America, length of box office run isn't nearly as prestigious as it is in some other countries. I noticed when I was shooting a film in France that many theatres there made a much bigger deal of how many weeks their films had been holding - some had the number of weeks listed on the marquee, and one was even advertising to get people to come see a film so they could keep it running another week and set a record for longest film run at that venue.(Edited 2018 - updated with final box office information from 2015)
Why do some movies come out on Wednesday when most come out on Friday?
Traditionally, movies are released on Fridays because it being the last working day and the weekend holidays that follow. Logically, it makes sense since this is when most people will visit cinema halls.The idea of releasing a movie on Wednesday or any other day for that matter is to make the most of a public holiday that falls on such days. Since, movies rely heavily on the first weekend/first few days of the release, it does make sense sometimes to try and get as many days as possible for the opening window of release.
In the theater, when does the actual movie start? If the published showtime is at 7:30, how long will it be until the trailers are over and actual movie begins?
It varies. The answer you’d get from 99% of people that work at the theater would be “10 - 15 minutes of previews”.At my theater there will be extra content and everything about 30 minutes before, so if the show starts at 7:30, it will start at 7.Then just about 7:29 it will cut to a public service announcement telling you to leave your cell phones alone for a couple hours. Which you really should.At just about 7:30 a short, maybe 30 second intro from that specific chain of theaters starts. It’s Regal Cinemas, they have a roller coaster intro.Then the previews start immediately after that. I’m surprised with myself that I’ve been to the movies literally hundreds of times over the past few years and still don’t know the exact time previews play for, partially because it does change slightly (by a minute or 2 probably).Then the movie starts.Personally, if a movie is showing at 7:30 I’ll show up at 7:10 (7 is a busy time, lots of lines). To make sure I get a ticket on time, and go to concessions (another line) and get my sweet tea and buncha crunch (or M n M’s if it strikes me), then I’m normally a few minutes ahead of schedule by that time which usually gives me a better chance of getting the seat I want.To the right of this seat————————————————————————————-^3rd row after the break, furthest from the door. Don’t ask me why. It’s just mine.Bonus fact… A lot of sites, and sometimes the theaters themselves will show the run times of the movies (ex. 133 mins.). That includes the 5 minutes or so of credits after. So if you’re planning for something after the movie you can shave 5 whole minutes or so off the amount of time you thought you’d be spending there!
When are movie theaters most crowded?
See a movie on the day of release or few days after, if its not a blockbuster type crowds will thin out fast. Go to evening or night shows, no one goes to the movies in the day. Go to the popular theatre, not the weird ones in secluded areas where they play movies from over a year ago. Normally theatres close to or connected to a popular mall are pretty crowded.
For opening weekend of a super-hot movie, how early do I need to get to the megaplex to make sure I get a decent seat? Do I need to get there by 6:30/6:45pm for a 7:30pm show?
I'm a power customer of one suburban megaplex -- the Redwood City 20-screen theater in Silicon Valley. I go to this theater about twice per month.My experience is that it is very hard to predict when and how bad lines will form at suburban megaplexes. Given this, the answer to this question depends on your risk tolerance for getting screwed. Here's a rough quantification of how I think about timing:For a normal bigtime well-regarded commercial movie on opening Friday/Saturday, you should be in the theater: (1) 45 minutes ahead of time, if you want to take no risk on seats; (2) 35 minutes if you want to take maybe a 5-10% risk of getting screwed; (3) 20 minutes if you want to take a 25-33% risk of getting screwed. The risk curve is steep and very unpredictable between 35 minutes early and 15 minutes early.For super-hot blockbusters where the opening weekend is nuts (Sex in the City; Hunger Games; Harry Potter), add about 15 minutes to each number above.I really hate bad seats, so it's possible that I'm somewhat overstating the risks here. But I think this is directionally right, at least for my theater.Two final thoughts:The unpredictability of lines means that most of the time you get to the theater really early, you'll end up waiting around for seemingly no reason; the theater will be mostly empty for the first 10-20 minutes. This is the cost you pay for assuring yourself a good seat.Per Garrick Saito's comment below -> My time estimates above assume that you are in the theater, in line when the countdown starts. You may need to build in incremental cushions around parking, etc.