This is topic Turnout for Star Wars Episode 2 in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 05-16-2002, 10:33 AM:
One of my co-workers got dragged by his girlfriend to a midnight show at the AMC (ex-GCC) Lehigh Valley Mall in Allentown PA. From what he told me the image was good, the sound was horrible and the surrounds weren't working. Most of all, the midnight show did not sell out!How is the Episode 2 turnout so far? Did your midnight shows sell out or not?
Posted by Greg Pauley (Member # 503) on 05-16-2002, 11:16 AM:
I was at our Huntington, WV theatre (Keith~Albee Theatre) last night for the midnight showing of Star Wars along with 1450 patrons. Although, not a sellout (1800 Seats) still a very good turnout. See Pic's Below:Picture From Stage:
Picture of the Balcony:
Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 05-16-2002, 11:18 AM:
At 12:45am, our four largest auditoriums were sold out.
Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 05-16-2002, 05:07 PM:
The midnight at our theater did not sell out. We had about 10 tickets left out of 210. Our sister theater, 30 minutes away, sold out within a few hours of opening. Thats particularly odd considering we regularly outsell them every weekend.
Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 05-16-2002, 05:38 PM:
All screens showing last night sold out mid afternoon.------------------
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-16-2002, 07:29 PM:
Not a sell-out performance but I think most people here didn't realize it would be a Thursday opening. Tomorrow (Friday) will definitely have higher traffic.Why was this a Thursday opening, anyway?
------------------
~Manny.
Now...where was I ?
Leonard Shelby, MEMENTO.
Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 05-16-2002, 09:14 PM:
Our 12:01 shows were packed. People started arriving around 7:00, most dressed as their favorite character (we got one cantina band member). Today, however, is a different story. The first few shows only had about 20 people in them or so, but they increase later in the afternoon to about 50% sell by about 5:00. Even though I haven't been back since 5:00, I'm pretty sure the late shows are selling well (our last one is 11:05, bleh). Spiderman did the same thing, nobody in the morning (even hardcore fans have jobs) and increased almost exponentially around 5:00 on, to 500 foot lines an hour before the show started.
Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 05-19-2002, 01:28 AM:
Cripey! For the midnight showings we had a turnout of nearly 600 people... 
Yeah, that qualifies as sold out! I actually stayed downstairs helping out with the crowd control from 10:00 until about 11:50, then bolted upstairs to get the shows ready to roll!
And since then, we've sold out for nearly all of our showtimes. In fact, the only two SW showtimes that didn't sell out today were the 10:15AM & the 10:05PM shows! Whee!
Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 05-19-2002, 01:31 AM:
We broke our record for attendance today at my twenty screen. We also sold out almost every show of EPII on all 6 screens!!! Our previous record was 12,467. I dont know our exact number for today but it was around 12,600 something.------------------
--Sean McKinnon
Manager
Loews Cineplex Entertainment
Liberty Tree Mall 20
Danvers, Mass
www.enjoytheshow.com
Posted by Paul Rich (Member # 243) on 05-19-2002, 03:00 AM:
Manny, ep2 openned on a Thursday so it could open in as many countries on the same day as possible. In most countries, movies open on Thursday.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-19-2002, 08:46 AM:
I believe the Uptown has been at capacity for every show with the possible exception of the 8:30am shows but I believe they sold out too.The popular show times are sold out days in advance.
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-19-2002, 10:56 AM:
From what I saw yesterday, most or possibly all shows at Cinemark 17 here were selling out by showtime, including the 9AM round. On 4 screens (I previously said 3). The 4:15 show we were at was "sold out" but the front row remained empty. They seem to undersell.
Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 05-19-2002, 10:30 PM:
yea it was really wierd. We have a pretty bad turnout on friday night, nothing came close to selling out. Saturday, all day, it was selling out in both our theatres(224,180). Then today, it did just ok. Our midnight showings we sold out though. I think we were hurt by the fact that every theatre in the area was have special screenings, and that our local chain had 8 prints at one place, and 8 more at the other 30 min. away. We did well overall.
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3% Body Fat. 1% Brain Activity.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-21-2002, 10:14 AM:
>>Manny, ep2 openned on a Thursday so it could open in as many countries on the same day as possible. In most countries, movies open on Thursday.<<Actually, the real reason was that it was 25 years to the day (date) that the original (Later to be renamed Episode 4: A New Hope, although thankfully, not on MY 16mm scope version 
) opened.
John
------------------
"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage". - Indiana Jones.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 05-26-2002, 06:42 PM:
Episode 2 is now on track to have a smaller box office total than the hated Episode 1!That's with ticket price inflation and a supersaturation release taken into account. 
Has the Episode 2 turnout held up -- or does Episode 2 show signs of the dreaded Second Weekend 50 Percent Drop?
Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 05-26-2002, 07:40 PM:
As with the Star Wars vs. Spider-man comparisons, this is apples to oranges. Previous to the theatrical release of The Phantom Menace the fans of Star Wars were convinced that no Star Wars movie would be released on DVD until at least the year 2005. Previous to the release of Attack of the Clones in theatres Star Wars fans were told they would be able to purchase the movie on DVD before Thanksgiving. So... why bother seeing it umpteen times in theatres this summer, no matter if you're a huge fan or not?
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 05-27-2002, 09:37 PM:
So far, we are quite pleased with the Star Wars turnout. Spiderman is holding very well, too.
Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-02-2002, 11:35 AM:
This might be the correct thread for this...Anyone notice the recent push with TV spots for Episode II? Seems like they are really trying to capitalize on the "Yoda Scene" that everyone is talking about. The latest one I saw said "Swing Into This Summer's Hottest Action Hero" or something to that effect, with the words flying at the screen in the Spider-Man-like text, then a fade-in to Yoda grabbing his lightsaber, and various cuts of just that scene with the Star Wars theme playing. Pretty lame, if you ask me. Oh well, looks like The Sum Of All Fears will bump it down a notch this week.
=TMP=
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 06-02-2002, 01:15 PM:
Yesterday -- a Saturday -- the 4:15 matinee of Episode 2 at the Reading Cinemas in Manville NJ drew 50 people, myself included. This was in one of the giant-size halls that has 300+ seats.Call it the weather (nice summer day), call it word-of-mouth, Episode 2 is living up to my prediction: 2 weeks, then splash!
Thomas P: Congratulations! You correctly guessed The Sum of All Fears would top the box office this weekend.