It seems to me that movie theaters are always packed on Christmas, but everyone I know swears this is a figment of my imagination. Can anyone back me up with statistics?
No hard core statistics here, but I worked for some years as a projectionist at a 9-theater cinema (small by today’s standards).
We opened our theater at 7pm on Thanksgiving and Christmas and had about the same attendance as a Sunday night (in other words, less than Friday or Saturday, but more than the rest of the week).
It always seemed quite reasonable to me that folks went to the theater after all of the presents were unwrapped and Christmas dinner was in their bellies.
I’ve gone to the movies twice on Christmas day. Once to see the premier of JFK (worth it), the second time to the premier of Godfather III (not).
It’s not an uncommon date for premieres, is it? If Christmases weren’t busy, I’d not expect movie execs to have them premiere then.
When I was a teenager, going to the movies was part of our Christmas tradition. (The other part was opening presents and then going to lunch at a buffet restaurant.)
If memory serves, the theatres were quite busy on those days. Not packed, but busy.
Don’t forget Jews.
On Christmas Day, we see a movie and go to a Chinese restaurant. Sadly, I have no hard data on this. These outings are scheduled early, to avoid afterchurch crowds. In my experience, attendance depends on the popularity of each film and on how many Jews live in the area.
When I lived in Virginia, Kings Dominion (a theme park) remained open on Easter sunday. Lines were shorter. Food sales were often low as Easter sometimes falls during Passover.
I currently live in a neighborhood filled with Jews from the former USSR. I’ll be stunned if the Hong Kong Super Buffet down the block is not open tomorrow.
That’s pretty big in San Francisco as well.
If you go here (2003) or here (2002) you can see that Christmas day usually does better than the day or two before, but not as good as the day after.
I hope this is helpful.
Since I dog-sit for a friend over the holidays, I tend to wind up at the nearby theater in the evening of Christmas Day. Last year it was packed. I might check it out tonight just to see how busy things are.
Here in Britland,I doubt if any theaters would open Christmas Day.None do that I know of.Ditto shopping centers,supermarkets etc…Sainsbury’s tried opening on Christmas Day a few years ago and got slammed for it,both by customers and MPs.In fact there are certain laws about which shops if any open Christmas Day.Most have to close Easter Day and Good Friday too.
Well, the 7:50 showing of Lemony Snicket at Loew’s 42nd street was packed tonight.
So now you have one data point.
For the past three years my family and I have gone to the movies to see each new Lord of the Rings film on Christmas day. (Today however, we watched the EE version.)
Whatever it might have been, attendence will be low this year.
Why, in og’s name, would anyone make a live action Fat Albert? Why? Wasn’t Daredevil enough punishment?
I’m not watching any movie ever again unless it was written by Josh Wheaton.
Now moving myself to Cafe Society. 
You’re never going to watch another movie again? I admire your tenacity.
(It’s Joss Whedon)
Damn, and I though I checked the spelling too. Sorry.
And I slipped already. Saw the Life Aquatic.
Good thing I don’t already smoke.
I’m too lazy to compile the annual data from commasense’s link, but the weekly data should be enough to convince my anecdote-ignoring skeptical friends. Thanks.
Well, rats. Is it too late for me to add that I, too, worked in a movie theater, once worked a double-shift on Christmas day, and it was busier than I thought it would be, but not as busy as a typical Saturday afternoon?
In Australia the highest movie attendance every year is recorded on 26th December.
www.the-numbers.com is my favourite source for movie business news and they say :
The busiest weekend of the year starts off with Christmas Eve, one of the slowest holiday nights of year. Because of this, it make predicting the weekend results much more difficult. Also adding to the difficulty, several films only open / go wide on Saturday.