I was checking showtimes for today and saw that my local theater is doing midnight screenings of Madagascar 3. The question is...WHY? I understand if it's for The Avengers and the sort. Movies with big built in followings that consist of teenagers and adults but Madagascar's fan base would probably be elementary school kids. Is there really going to be a huge turnout of little kids at midnight? How much more money is Dreamworks going to make on midnight screenings of Madagascar 3? Midnight screenings get a tad out of hand over the summer. Not every movie is that big to deserve a midnight screening. The Dark Knight Rises? Yes! That's my Boy? Eh, I don't think so. What are your thoughts?

Spillover for any sold-out shows of Prometheus

Midnight Screenings are no longer "events", they're the norm.

As such I expect almost every movie to have one.

Really?

child molesters need a little prep time so they can discuss it at the bus stop the next morning.

I'm sure some parents will actually bring their kids to the midnight show. After seeing a three-year-old crawling on the floor of O'Sheas Casino in Vegas at 2am while her mother stuffed her face with Burger King, taking kids to a midnight movie seems almost quaint.

the real question is why do you care?

parenting skill have certainly gone lax nowadays.

Here's the real reason why. Let's say you're a theater manager. You've got Prometheus, a big movie coming out with huge midnight potential. You've scheduled staff to work this midnight shift, made sure all the concessions are ready to go. You also have a screen sitting empty with a nice shiny digital projector that has Madagascar 3 loaded into it. At that point, you might as well schedule a midnight and hope that someone shows up. Even if no one comes, the price of running one digital show among many other digital shows is so minimal that you're basically out nothing. And if even one person shows up, it's profit.

At least take the kid to the Bellagio!

it's profit to the studio, but not necessarily the theater, now if that person(s) buys concessions then yes, it's profit for either entity.

Even on opening weekend the theater sees some profit from the showing. And as I said, the costs of running a single digit show are so minute that even a single ticket sold without concessions would be profit. But also it's likely that people coming to a midnight show will buy concessions.

what is the percentage/ticket price distributed to the studio/theater?

To anger you.

This seems right but it just seems like a major hassle for not much extra.

It'll vary from studio to studio but it usually starts at 90/10 in favor of the studio then slowly raises in favor of the theater the longer they show it.

I know there have been a few instances of a studio asking us to hold on to a film at 100% profit just because they wanted it to reach a certain box office take, even if the studio themselves didn't see any of it.

Jules, what extra hassle? You're already running midnights of a guaranteed money maker (in this case Prometheus). With digital everything is automated. It's not like someone has to be there to start the show. There won't be any ushers checking sound and picture. It will simply run at 12:01 regardless of who's in there.

If there were no big movie opening opposite Madagascar I doubt you'd see midnights for it.

That's true. I know it isn't the first time I've scratched my head over a midnight screening but haven't really noticed if a bigger movie was playing also. Maybe I'm just bitter because instead of playing Madagascar 3, the theaters could play something older and more cool instead. I mean, it is midnight. But like you said, it's all about the profit, not about Jules wanting to see Rocky Horror Picture Show at his local multiplex dressed up as Janet.

Exactly! Ten feet from the beer pong tables is no place for a child...

that'd I like to see

You can just do that at my house Saturday nights.

a night out with Supermallet and Jules sounds like a hoot.

Movie Talk meet!!

Instead of at your house, we could all meet up at the next unnecessary midnight show. Anyone up for Ice Age: Continental Drift?

I think the more important question is why does the world need Madagascar 3 ? Or 2...or 1 ?

It's for the three people who want to see Madagascar 3 but not deal with kids in the audience