The Midnight Movie Premiere
Or why advanced seating killed the fun
“Spiderman: No Way Home” opens this week. If you were lucky enough to get tickets, congratulations! I was super stoked when I logged into the Regal Unlimited app and was able to purchase tickets for the very first showing with no problems. That is until I realized the tickets were for Friday, not the early premiere showings on Thursday.
I’ve never missed an early premiere of a Marvel film! From Iron Man to Eternals, I’ve been there before opening night. Back in the day, they were midnight screenings! Remember that shit? Now, they usually start them around 7 pm the day before the film’s official opening night.
I miss midnight screenings. That shit was so fun! It was almost guaranteed that everyone in attendance was a hard-core fan and cared about the movie just as much as you did. You didn’t have to worry about someone talking, or someone heckling the film. Everyone was there to have a good time and be immersed in a different world.
Thanks to the Star Wars premiers, theaters started doing cool events at the screenings. I remember when the prequels came out, they would have the 501st Legion (you might have read about them on COSGRRRL!) show up. Darth Vader would march up and down the street in formation with a group of stormtroopers. At the Episode III premiere, our local theater had someone in Count Duku cosplay teaching kids lightsaber techniques and doing photo ops. My nephew kicked his ass and I’ve got the photo to prove it. Somewhere, I swear!
These were the days before online ticket sales. You would purchase your advanced tickets at the box office a few weeks before the premiere. I was lucky in those days, my mom worked right next door to the movie theater. I’d give her my money for the tickets and she would buy them the minute they would open.
If you were lucky enough to score some tickets for the midnight showing, you’d have to show up hours or days early to secure your place in line. There was no assigned seating. It was first come, first served, yo!
I think it was the ultimate moving-going experience. It was elevated to the level of a special event or a concert. Local radio stations would sponsor the screenings and hold giveaways. They would play games with audiences while waiting for the films to start. You could win t-shirts, concert tickets, passes to future screenings, and all kinds of cool swag!
Midnight screenings had become the ultimate family movie-going experience. I was the cool uncle and would take my nephews and nieces to all the premiers. When I had my kids, I started bringing them along also. I had no problem letting my kids stay home from school because they were up until two in the morning watching movies. Come on, yo, experience is WAY more important than education. Right?
I feel like the loss of the midnight movie premiere has somewhat diminished the theater-going experience. There was something special about waiting in line until midnight to see a new film. You felt like you were part of an exclusive group that cared about the film.
Sure, I love still being able to see a film a day earlier than the advertised opening day, but is it the same? Most advanced screenings start around 7 pm. Spiderman: No Way Home advanced screenings start at 3 pm in my area. I honestly don’t know if people getting these advanced tickets know that they’re technically seeing an advanced screening before opening day. ARE they advanced screenings anymore?
The social experience of the midnight movie premiere was awesome! It was like attending a concert. There was nothing better than cheering along with a theater filled with die-hard fans who were just as enthusiastic as you were. It’s a cinematic experience everyone should have. Occasionally, I’ll still get that crowd-cheering interactive concert-type experience in a film. Avengers: End Game had some great crowd cheering moments. However, other than that “recent” film, I can’t remember a movie where I wasn’t the first and loudest voice of pure joy and excitement.
Or maybe I’m just that one drunken dude at the theater who keeps yelling “Hell yeah!” that everyone hates. Let me know what you think in the comments, yo! How do you feel about the modern theater-going experience?
