I’m going to see Jack and the Giant Slayer with some friends tonight. It’s opening night for the film, and we’re seeing the 7:10 pm show. This is in a theater in the suburbs with a huge parking lot and can get pretty crowded, but not swamped.
My friends want to get there 30 minutes before the movie starts to make sure we get good seats. I think arriving 15 minutes early should do us just fine, but one of my friends called me “nuts” for thinking that, citing that it’s Friday night and the opening weekend of a “big” movie.
It’s only a difference of 15 minutes, but I hate arriving at a theatre so early. I mean, a full half hour? I’ll probably end up agreeing to it, but it actually means I’ll have to get out of work a few minutes early.
How much time do YOU give yourself before the movie starts?
Depends on where you want to sit. If you like to sit in the exact center of the theatre, a half hour doesn’t seem like too early, especially on opening nights. However, if you prefer the lower rows, like I do, because then you can get the true movie experience with the screen taking up all your field of vision, then you can arrive later than that, probably 15 minutes or so before, and still get a good seat, probably even on opening night.
My Wife and I only go to matinees. The theaters are about 45 minutes from our house and we like to have lunch in town first. We also are particular about our seats. We arrive 20-30 minutes early.
I do like the lower rows too, and as you say they are usually the last taken, but I still get there well in advance. I am too paranoid and it makes me too stressed to stand in a busy line, even if I know seats will probably be there! For an opening weekend matinee, probably 20 minutes ahead.
Jack the Giant Slayer opens this weekend though. Opening weekend always means arrive earlier, for me. If you want to all sit together, and not in the front rows, I’m going to say 45 minutes.
When Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey came out a million years go, my friends and I decided to go on opening night. Big openings in my small town would get very crowded with long lines… Jurassic Park, Batman, etc were always nuts. So we decided to get there an hour early to be safe.
Opening night at someplace like the Crown 18, you want to be there 30 minutes early, minimum. Personally, I don’t even go on opening weekend, it’s too hectic.
OK, we settled on meeting 25 minutes beforehand, and I’ve already purchased the tickets and got our 3D glasses. It sounds like 25-30 minutes isn’t a crazy amount of time. I guess I usually go to off-hours films as well, and I never go on opening nights anymore!
Random off-thread mention:
I went to see “Warm Bodies” a few weeks back and sat in the very last row, smack in the middle. There were only about 6 other people in the theater. Right as the movie started, a man and a woman sat directly in front of me! I was a little flabbergasted, since there were sooooo many open seats. I decided to move a few seats to the right, and the couple in front of me started to do the same thing. I tapped them on the shoulders and said “I’d rather not sit directly behind anyone, so if you go ahead and pick the seats you want, I’ll move accordingly.” The guy was all like, “Huh? What are you talking about???” and the girl was all apologetic and said “Sorry, I was trying to get him to move,” and the guy said, “Huh? Why?”
Like you *really *didn’t notice you were sitting right in front of me? While there were sooooo many other seats to spare?
If it is a super blockbuster I MUST see, I get there 30-45 min early. Usually I wait the crowd out and see it on week 3 or 4 and give myself about 1 minute.
