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Author Topic: How many cars per week can you expect at a drive-in? Richard Greco Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1180 From: Plant City, FL Registered: Nov 2003 posted 11-11-2005 10:27 PM                     When I managed the Fun'Lan down here, in Winter with 3 screens, we averaged about 20-30 cars on weeknights, (Sun - Thurs). Between 75- 100 cars a night on weekends. Summer with 4 screens, about 30-40 on weeknights, 150-250 on weekends  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-11-2005 10:41 PM                        quote: Richard Greco Summer with 4 screens, about 30-40 on weeknights, 150-250 on weekends I sure as hell hope that's per screen. Not much point in coming in if it's the total gate.  |  IP: Logged Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-12-2005 01:28 AM                        Jack O' - Where's that picture Cheryl took of that sound rack in the Fun-Lan projection booth? Maybe Richard Greco was the one who did the wiring?? From our experience with weekday numbers, it's pretty dismall. Monday thru Wednesday nights we pulled 10-20 cars a night - with one screen during the summer. Thursday nights were better, somewhere around 30-50 cars. Friday night was the night we could judge the entire weekend by. We could take Friday night's car count and multiply it by 2 to get Saturday night's count, and the Sunday count would usually be half of Friday. Not all of the time, but it has been pretty consistant. Same kind of thing works with the number of messages left on the answering machine. When we come in in the evenings, if the answering machine is blinking "20" messages, we can usually expect 60+/- cars for the night. If it's blinking "FL".. it's a real good indicator of a sellout night. Attendance has ALWAYS been a steady 2.3 patrons per vehicle average. Everyone speaks of the attendance slump in the movie business this year, to be honest we've had the best year yet since we've opened. This summer, we consistantly SOLD OUT with 250-300 cars each and every Saturday night that we opened a new movie. From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, I think we sold out almost every-other weekend. Another good reason to go ahead and build a second screen... Next weekend, we'll open "Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire" on Screen 1, and "Walk the Line" on Screen 2. If we only had one screen, we'd have to choose which of those 2 films we'd open. We've had alot of requests from the Harry Potter crowd, and being the closest drive-in to Nashville (i.e Country Music capital of the world), we've had alot of people asking about Walk the Line. If the weather holds out for us next weekend, we should be able to finish up the year in the black. If not, it's funnel cakes and frozen pretzels for Christmas again this year.  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-12-2005 06:21 AM                        Barry, your attendance ratios for the weekend are the same as ours and it is 2.3 per car as well. When the phone runs hot on Saturday, look out. We do have the luxury of running year round here in Australia and the boxoffice stays consistent with spikes for blockbusters and holidays.  |  IP: Logged Richard Greco Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1180 From: Plant City, FL Registered: Nov 2003 posted 11-12-2005 10:30 AM                     quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea I sure as hell hope that's per screen. Not much point in coming in if it's the total gate. That usually was per screen on weekends....but it really was total on some weeknights.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-12-2005 01:52 PM                        quote: Barry Floyd Jack O' - Where's that picture Cheryl took of that sound rack in the Fun-Lan projection booth? Maybe Richard Greco was the one who did the wiring?? You remember that, eh? It was in this thread about booth wiring... not sure Richard was around though!  |  IP: Logged Richard Greco Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1180 From: Plant City, FL Registered: Nov 2003 posted 11-12-2005 02:01 PM                     Since that picture, they put up a metal sheet covering that wiring.  |  IP: Logged

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