These days, theatrical movies make the majority of their income during opening weekend, as audiences rush to theaters to see the latest much-hyped new releases. This is generally followed by steep box office declines in the weeks to follow. Are you the sort of viewer who must see a new movie as soon as you can, or do you prefer to wait for bargain shows, or even the eventual Blu-ray release? Vote in our poll.
It used to be that I made a point of seeing every new movie that interested me in the theater, usually as soon as possible. Over time, however, as the cinema experience has steadily deteriorated, home video release windows have shortened and my home theater has gotten better, my viewing habits have changed. The sense of urgency to see a new movie just isn’t there for me anymore. I hardly get out to the theater at all these days. The occasional big event movie, like last week’s ‘Gravity’, might spur my interest, but it has to be something really special, and even then I may not get around to it. I fear that ennui has overtaken me.
Are you still excited to see new movies in the theater?
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Shayne Blakeley
I would usually avoid seeing movies opening weekend because noisy crowds infuriate me, but in recent years I’ve begun to do so more often. Partly because it’s gotten to be so hard to avoid spoilers online but more-so as I want to vote with my dollar that we need more The World’s Ends and less Paranormal Activities.
Shannon Nutt
Just big event stuff for me these days…the last movie I saw on opening weekend was Man of Steel…actually, that’s also the last movie I saw in a theater. But a lot of that has to do with atmosphere – I’m becoming less and less tolerant of the cell phones, talking, popcorn-munching, baby screaming, and generally rowdy (and ignorant) behavior…so I have to really want to see something to put up with that.
T.J. Kats
I still like going to the theater as a date night with my wife but with three little ones I don’t do it that often so it is usually big releases. Even then I usually try and go on the afternoon of the Saturday or Sunday it comes out to thin out the crowd a little bit.
Ruben Reyes
I only go to the movies if something is playing that I feel I have to see on the big screen. When I do go, I wait until the movie is almost out of theaters and I try to go early on a weekday to avoid as many people as possible. I used to love going to the movies but it’s become more of an annoyance than anything with all the talking, seat kicking, cell phones, etc.
Dirk
I saw gravity yesterday only because it was a must see in the theater. As others explained you almost have to see the “big” movies opening weekend or else you will find out the details/spoliers through internet, office talk etc. The nasty, rude behavior by movie goers these days (talking, texting, etc.) have caused me to use redbox for all the rest of the movies I want to see.
The movie crowd is so bad nowadays that 80% of my attention is on the movie, the other 20% is waiting for that first conversation or text that I know is coming….
Pedram
Wow, so many people seem to have complaints about cinemas these days. I never hear any babies crying or people kicking seats or being loud. And if people are disturbing others, the cinema staff would deal with it.
Only a couple times somebody was using their phone, but either turned it off themselves or after I said something.
In any case, with crowds and ticket prices these days, I think only the big releases that I really anticipate are worth seeing on opening weekend. With some theatres offering pre-reserved seats in their IMAX or AVX halls though, I’m more inclined to go opening weekend because I can be assured of good seats without having to show up really early. It’s just too bad that they charge more for that privilege. When I was in other countries, it was a normal thing to have reserved seating, so I don’t know why they don’t do it more in North America.
William Henley
This seems to be my experience – in the past, oh, five years, the only movie I remember Babies crying in was Ted. In Tron Legacy, there was a kid playing with the lights on his shoes right next to me, which was really distracting, but after a couple of minutes an usher came in and told the parents that the kid either had to remove his shoes, or they would have to leave the auditorium. And if you pull out a cell phone in a theater here and don’t promptly leave the auditorium or shut it off, you may get pulled out by theater employees and polic and have your phone searched to make sure you were not committing copyright infringement. As such, the issues have been few – even at matinees and weekend showings when more kids may be present.
In answer to this weeks question, I am about 50/50 now. I see quite a few movies opening night (or even opening day – I am off Fridays so I can catch the matinee), and there is a theater not far from me that is in an abandoned mall, so even though it is a nice theater, they don’t get much traffic, and first-run movies are now $3 for a matinee there. They don’t have Atmos or large-format screens, though.
I used to hit the dollar theater, but I rarely do that anymore. It is not well maintained, and by the time they get movies, I may already own it on Blu-Ray.
If it is a movie that I only have vague intrest in, I will pick the Blu-Ray up at a RedBox.
Csm101
If its something I’m dying to see, I’ll catch a midnight show. I rarely get a chance to do matinees any more but if I can get an opening weekend movie on a matinee, I’m there.
EM
I seldom see movies on opening weekend, for various reasons:
• I save money by going to weekday matinees
• The combination of my work schedule and transportation availability sometimes makes the weekend showings difficult to get to
• Few of the releases interest me
• If I’m interested but skeptical, I may hold off for critical word and/or cheaper options such as video or the aforementioned matinees
Pedram
I’m surprised so many people are missing out on the huge screen theatre experience.
Granted, oftentimes the picture isn’t as good as my home projector even though it’s not super high end (e.g. a 2k image on a huge screen won’t look as good as on a 100″ screen, among other reasons), but going to the movies with friends is still a great experience, as is being able to discuss is after when it’s in the public conscience.