When Does The Movie Actually Start? Connecticut Lawmaker Insists Theaters Tell Us
Image Source: Maishahuru
People buying tickets for Meet Joe Black just to watch the trailer for The Phantom Menace in 1998 has become part of Star Wars folklore. But this was before the times of high-speed internet and mobile devices.
But sitting down in a movie theater, first having to sit through several commercials, then watching a bunch of trailers for other movies, and then getting to see the film you bought the ticket for, has been part of the cinema experience for decades. It's like a "package", and no one seems to bother.
No one, except for Senator Martin Looney from New Haven, Connecticut.
On January 21, Looney proposed a bill requiring that "...each movie advertisement or listing include, and separately list, the scheduled start time for (1) the movie trailers and advertisements that precede the advertised or listed movie, and (2) the advertised or listed movie."
"It does seem to me that people are, in effect, a sort of captive audience watching the advertising before they get to see the feature they came to see," the Senator argues. "It seems to be an abuse of people's time. If they want to get there early and watch the promos, they can. But if they just want to see the feature, they ought to be able to get there just in time for that.”
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While Looney certainly has a point there, theatre owners see a serious threat to one of their major sources of income if the bill passes.
While film studios do not pay for showing trailers and previews of upcoming movies, letting people know about what's coming can certainly incentivize the audience to spend money on tickets, food, and beverages in the future.
Movie theatres, of course, get paid for commercials. If people took their seats just before the start of the movie, this would likely hurt the financial stability of movie theatres, as the number of tickets sold each year is far below than before the pandemic and streaming services.
“This is kind of a strange bill,” says Peter H. Gistelinck, executive director at the Avon Theatre in Stamford. “We, as an independent movie house, are financially dependent on our previews as well as our overall messaging, including commercials. We always announce the start time of our screenings so that our patrons can enjoy the whole experience.”
Additionally, the AMC app already lets its users know to “...please allow approximately 20 extra minutes for pre-shows and trailers before the show starts.”
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Source: Register Citizen
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