Draven

I produce a movie segment for TV and always have to run down the release dates for the big movies of the week. Over the course of the last few months, it's gone from movies opening at 12:01 Thursday night/Friday morning to fairly consistently opening at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evening. Not every theater, but at least 2-3 around town (if not sometimes more).

I haven't really seen this mentioned anywhere, but the "midnight release" excitement seems to have gone away in favor of a pretty ho-hum time of evening to see a new movie. Plus I imagine that skews the box office a bit by giving them more "weekend" to crow about.

islandclaws

I love Thurs night late shows. My local theater is usually dead because everyone still thinks the movie opens on Fri.

Arpeggi

I love it.

Matthew Chmiel

Yeah, this has been a trend now since the beginning of the year.

I don't know why studios and theaters didn't embrace this earlier. I remember when Warner did it for T3 and The Matrix sequels, but it was more of a rarity than anything else. I prefer it over having to see a film at midnight and having to be up a few hours later for work.

RichC2

Studios didn't want it because Midnight counts toward your weekend, Thursday at 8 pm doesn't - so you lose certain bragging rights. Plus, midnight showings for big movies meant almost an entire theater dedicated to just one movie, you could have a full day of showings done before 3 AM.

After the shooting in Aurora last year, they re-evaluated that thought process. Though honestly I don't know what the difference between 8pm and midnight is when you have a loon with semi-automatics.

bunkaroo

Maybe the loon won't have as much time to get ready after work if the movie starts earlier.

Mabuse

Is the change really because of Aurora? Were fewer people showing up to midnight screenings out of fear?

Giles

in the 80's and 90's most summer movies actually opened on Wednesdays.

The Bus

This hasn't been a "trend" just for this year. Summer tentpoles have opened days earlier than Friday for a long time.

I think it's a great idea for movie houses, who will usually not see a lot of demand near the middle of the week and will need to accommodate some extra demand for big titles. This is especially useful in areas which are underserved and where it may be difficult to grab a good seat on premiere night.

Additionally, you typically have a lot of fans attending the show, whereas a 7pm (shudder) screening on a Friday may have a large % of bored teenagers.

RichC2

I don't think fewer people were showing up, it strikes me more of a liability thing. I could be wrong, it happens pretty frequently, but there was a lot of BS about the movies showing so late with a lot of the interviewees on the news. I would say "Wait til tomorrow" but everybody wants to be first.

I don't think that's what they mean, a movie that opens on Friday usually has midnight showings. Lately though those have been pushed up to 10 pm and now 7 - 8 pm. It isn't the same as a movie opening on Thursday (where the midnight showings would be Wednesday night/Thursday morning) or Wednesday. Last summer The Amazing Spider-man opened on a Tuesday (midnights on Monday night/Tuesday morning). This is the End opened last Wednesday.

Draven

I guarantee that "Friday" movies opening at 8 PM Thursday is fairly new. Not only because I follow the industry, but because I'm a regular attendee of midnight showings that used to be the first opportunity to see a new movie.

Though I'm aware that movies often open on Wednesdays too. I think Jurassic Park had a Wednesday opening.

Giles

not according to wiki or imdb unfortunately

'Independence Day' in 1996 opened on a Tuesday interestingly.

I remember 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' opening on a Wednesday in 1989 because my friends and I were interviewed by Channel 5 news just across the street from the theater.

fumanstan

I wish it was more typical, I had to wait until midnight still for Man of Steel

Giles

I think the weirdest 'Thursday 'midnight movie I saw was the 'Frankenweenie'/Nightmare Before Christmas' double feature - what a weird but wonderful odd crowd. And all the cool freebies that Disney had the theaters giving out!

Shannon Nutt

Sadly, the "sneak preview" idea seems to be dead. Do any studios still do this? I remember it was a big deal in the late 80s/early 90s. A couple weeks before the release, they'd have a Saturday Night showing of a new movie, followed by another movie from that same studio...so you were basically getting two movies for the price of one (although many patrons didn't realize you were entitled to stay for the second film as well).

I remember seeing a Father of the Bride/Beauty and the Beast double feature, as well as a Ghost/Days of Thunder one.

Shannon Nutt

That's because the next day was the 4th of July.

A lot of movies still open on Wednesdays, don't they? Didn't most of the Star Wars movies open on a Wednesday?

fitprod

Generally, the double feature aspect is dead, but every once in a while the studios will sneak something the weekend before it's release. I think Universal did this for The Purge, but I'm not sure.

fitprod

Giles

oops you're right... I really need to find my glasses, read the date wrong on imdb's webpage - god that font now is really small.

yes: Star Wars (ep 4), Empire, and Jedi, and Phantom were released on a Wednesday

Episodes II, and III were Thursday releases.

Rypro 525

Well Man of Steel ONLY had midnight screenings, so i think the big big releases will stick to that

Alan Smithee

Jurassic Park opened on a Friday but had two Thursday night showings- I know this because I worked during the first one and stayed to see the second showing that night. Didn't realize they weren't doing sneak previews anymore- those used to be pretty common, with the film prints staying put for a week (so us theater personnel could run our own private showings late at night during that week, though I heard studios started getting paranoid and asking for the prints back just so they could be returned Thursday night.) Thursday midnight shows were pretty rare until recently, I remember T2 had one but for some reason my theater didn't participate in that.

bluetoast

Studios would ask for the prints back and would ship them back within one week? That must have cost a hell of a lot for shipping, right? (to them). Guess it must be worth the cost if they think it deters piracy.

But yeah I remember sneak previews, wonder when they died out. Though free screenings are still alive and well.

Draven

I saw UHF like that Can't even remember the other movie I was so excited.

Maybe I just saw Jurassic Park on a Wednesday...

I'm 87% sure both Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness had Thursday night showings...at least around here. Man of Steel struck me as unusual BECAUSE it only had midnight showings.

Roybq

Wal*Mart had 7 pm showings last week which accounted for $12 million in box office. So, it didn't have only midnight showings.

I remember seeing Independence Day during it's Tuesday opening night. I probably have a bunch of ticket stubs somewhere from those early screening double features. I think I hit up every one that was available because I was a cheap/poor bastard and that was a great way to check out a current and upcoming flick. They usually took place on Saturday nights, but kid's films were earlier and occasionally had 2nd showings on Sunday afternoon.

Parental Guidance is the most recent movie that I can think of that had an early showing before opening day, but they gave out tons of free tickets online to that one. That one sticks out because unlike it playing in one theater in one big city, it actually played in every theater that was set to play it on Christmas. My small town never gets screenings, so it was nice to not have to travel far...especially for that movie.

Supermallet

IIRC, The Lost World was released on a Wednesday, because it was Memorial Day.

Nope, I am incorrect. Oh well.

Alan Smithee

Independence Day officially opened on a Wednesday, but had two showings the prior Tuesday night. My theater ran it on 2 screens, with the movies that would be leaving playing their last showings on those screens during the day. It was the first "big" movie that I made up the prints for as they came Monday night and the head union projectionist wasn't going to be there til it was time to show them, which had him a little nervous but I pulled it off- only time I ever made a mistake making up a print was when I had two reels switched on a 2nd-run print of "The Quest", and that was partly because I had just an hour or so to get it together before its first showing. Had it fixed by the 2nd showing (someone in the audience noticed, and I had checked the splice as it ran through and the scene transition seemed a little weird), I've heard of that happening at some theaters and running for several weeks before anyone noticed!