Why midnight? I think it has something to do with some rule that you can't show a movie before the calendar date it's supposed to be released. So, 12:01 it is.
However, it seems that ever since the Batman shooting in Colorado, this rule has been relaxed. Now the customary "midnight" showing is at 10:00. Sometimes it's even as early as 8:00.
I just had to point out a couple of lapses in judgment, though.
#1) Ender's Game. It was released on Friday, November 1, 2013. So, the "midnight" showing fell on Halloween night. For some strange reason, the decision was made to show the movie at 8:00, supposedly to attract kids, the target audience. However, at 8:00, these kids were still wrapping up their Halloween candy collection or counting their booty. And while the kids were busy, the parents couldn't go, either. I think they would have gotten more ticket sales that first night if they had gone with 10:00 instead. Ooops!
#2) The LEGO Movie. It was released today, so the "midnight" showing was last night. If anything, this movie is targeted to even younger children than with Ender's Game. But this time, they went with a 10:00 showing? As it was, I had to force my boys (who really wanted to go) to take a nap before we went. And this is what happened ...
We had the whole theater to ourselves!! Boo-yah! We were able to laugh it up pretty good (and it was pretty funny--watch out for an upcoming guest review of the movie sometime next week).
I can't help thinking that if they had shown this at 8:00 instead of 10:00, there would have been more ticket sales.
Is it just me? Or are these really two cases of no-brainers gone bad?
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