Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Dark Knight Sales

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Posted by Jeremy Weigel (Member # 4208) on 07-01-2008, 11:11 PM:

I received an e-mail from our booker that contains a message from someone at WB stating that theatres are selling out advanced sales of their 1201 showings. Just curious if anyone has started selling advance tickets for Dark Knight, and if so, have you sold out any or is this just hype.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 07-02-2008, 11:46 AM:

I heard on TV that theaters that were doing midnight shows were adding 3 am shows too because of this.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-02-2008, 12:52 PM:

Wow...I can see people planning their schedule now:

9:00pm-2:00am: Get drunk
3:00am: Attend movie, throw up in bathroom
3:25am: Pass out

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 07-02-2008, 12:53 PM:

At one of our 18 screens tickets have been on sale since late last week - only 24 tickets sold so far.

Fandango and Movietickets reported a "surge" in advance sales for Batman . . . . . . apparently some markets had tickets on sale the week of 6/20, ours were approved last week.

Wired blog article

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-02-2008, 11:36 PM:

King of Prussia IMAX in Philly is sold out for their Thursday night midnight show, and they have added a 3:20 am show.

Link

Also, the prime and late shows are sold out on Friday night. I have tickets for the Saturday late show.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-03-2008, 12:02 AM:

I was hoping to be able to check out The Dark Knight at Cinemark's IMAX theater in Tulsa during opening weekend. I'll be driving through Tulsa to attend the AMBUCS National Convention in Rogers, Arkansas that week (it's a resort area near Wal-Mart HQ). Unfortunately, I don't know what time I'll be going through Tulsa on the return trip back home, so buying tickets in advance would be difficult to do. Now it's looking like buying tickets in advance will be the only sure bet for that weekend.

I'll probably be in Colorado Springs in late August visiting family, so I may get another chance to see the movie in IMAX then.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-03-2008, 10:12 AM:

Nothing like that to report...

Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 07-03-2008, 04:26 PM:

Sounds like the movie company is trying to bump up the hype on it. Typically when they try to do that, the movie sucks, and they know the business will drop off rapidly after opening weekend. In my mind, it doesn't bode well for the quality of the movie. Has anyone seen a sneak preview of it yet?

As a sideline, I used to tease a guy that worked here that has been wired up to see the movie. I'd tell him I heard it was cancelled. Later I told him, that the film company was going to have to reveal a secret once the movie came out - that Heath Ledger actually died before the movie started filming, which explains his acting in the movie.

What too soon?

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-03-2008, 05:36 PM:

To even think that this movie is going be bad is really naive. We started selling tickets today, for the past week or so we've had nothing but calls asking when tickets were going to go on sale. This is possibly the most anticipated movie of the past decade.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-03-2008, 07:09 PM:

Joe, Batman Begins was an incredible movie. The trailers for Dark Knight are great. I think WB's motive is to cash in on the buzz, rather than to front load a horrible movie. With Christopher Nolan as the director and the top notch cast, the only thing I would fear is the movie not living up to already lofty expectations.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-03-2008, 08:11 PM:

quote: Me
...they have added a 3:20 am show.

Scratch that. Sold out. Let's see if they add a 6:10 am show. They already have a 9am show, so it will be a tight squeeze. Let's see...

By the way, their noon show is gone too.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-03-2008, 09:34 PM:

I'm looking forward to this movie more than any other in a LONG time. The trailers look awesome and (not to be morbid but) there's the Heath Ledger curiosity factor. I've read speculation that the intensity of his role in this film and his commitment to doing it right might have contributed to his health problems and ultimately his demise. If he's as good in the whole movie as he seems in the trailers, he will be nominated for some awards. I hope the movie lives up to expectations.

Posted by Jaime Tuzzio (Member # 4760) on 07-04-2008, 05:42 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
9:00pm-2:00am: Get drunk

3:00am: Attend movie, throw up in bathroom

3:25am: Pass out

I only wish people would make it to the bathroom. Had to move our midnight Sex and the City crowd to another auditorium at show time due to someone who didn't even make it out of her seat. Thank goodness we had multiple prints so I had the show ready to go before everyone was seated.

I'm just waiting for the inevitable locked cans announcement for Dark Knight, at which point I'll scream.

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 07-04-2008, 06:23 AM:

I saw the IMAX version of this movie in Amsterdam last week and it is without doubt a blockbuster of epic proportions. It is in your face right from the outset and every time you think the pace might slow down up pops another twist.

Heath Ledger is amazing as The Joker. What a sad loss that an actor of this quality should die so young.

Bets on a posthumous Oscar??

Our premium priced preview on the 23rd,it opens here on the 24th is within minutes of selling out.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 07-04-2008, 11:44 AM:

In Chicago, the Imax theater at Navy Pier is showing it around the clock for the entire weekend, and most of the shows are already sold out.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-04-2008, 10:05 PM:

How do they handle the changes on an MPX IMAX JUNIOR screen? Those are much shorter than the traditional IMAX screen.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 07-05-2008, 05:24 AM:

quote: Jaime Tuzzio
I'm just waiting for the inevitable locked cans announcement for Dark Knight, at which point I'll scream.

Highly unlikely considering it's only screening starting at midnight instead of 7pm like Hancock. Worst case scenario would be getting the film on Thursday afternoon which would leave no time to screen unless you cancel 2 shows (movie is near 3 hours with trailers).

Posted by Robert Crabtree (Member # 4795) on 07-06-2008, 02:39 AM:

Pointe Orlando 20 + Imax has sold out their midnight IMAX, and has slapped on a 3am show

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-06-2008, 05:17 PM:

Megaplex 17 (Sandy, UT) has put up six midnight show pre-sales, and looks to have sold a good 3/4 of the seats in at least three of those shows.

(EDIT 7/11: They have sold out the IMAX midnight show, and have added a 3:15am IMAX show.)

[ 07-12-2008, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: Sam Graham ]

Posted by Shane Cooper (Member # 2510) on 07-09-2008, 10:49 PM:

An article from Yahoo related to Dark Knight sales.
Same Bat Time? Not Quite

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Just call him the Crack of Dawn Knight.

Movie theaters are adding 6 a.m. opening-day showings of The Dark Knight to meet demand created by sold-out midnight and 3 a.m. screenings.

"It's normal for movies like to this start at midnight," says Chad Hartigan, a box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations Co.

But 6 a.m. screenings?

"That's not normal," Hartigan says.

There are no hard numbers for how many theaters will stay open as the witching hour turns to the rise-and-shine hour at 6 a.m. on July 18, when The Dark Knight debuts. Overall, Hartigan says he expects the movie to play at 3,800-3,900 theaters during its opening weekend.

According to Ted Hong, vice president of marketing for the online ticket service Fandango, the unusual 6 a.m. show times are indicators of unusually strong interest.

"The Dark Knight is our fastest selling film in wide release this year," Hong says. "It trumps Iron Man, Sex and the City, Indiana Jones [and] WALL-E at the same point in their sales cycles—and it's even outpacing last year's Spider-Man 3 and Pirates [of the Caribbean: At World's End]."

Per Fandango, The Dark Knight will bow dark and extremely early in midnight showings on more than 1,500 screens. (Fandango and E! Online are both owned by Comcast.)

The service says "many" of those 12 a.m. screenings are sold out in cities both expected (New York, the model for Batman's troubled Gotham City) and not (Boise, Idaho; Council Bluffs, Iowa; etc.). MovieTickets.com, another online ticketing service, reported a total of 140 Dark Knight sell-outs as of today.

In a summer led by the $311 million-grossing Iron Man, The Dark Knight has been regarded as the blockbuster to beat. A sequel to Christopher Nolan's hit franchise reboot, Batman Begins, the new movie is receiving ecstatic early reviews—Variety called it "enthralling"—and Oscar buzz for the late Heath Ledger for his performance as the seriously unhinged Joker.

As early as two weeks ago, three weeks before the July 18 debut, Fandango was reporting "dozens" of premiere-night sell-outs. As of 10 a.m. this morning, still a good eight days before B-Day, The Dark Knight was accounting for 51 percent of all tickets sold by the service. At MovieTickets.com, the film was doing more business than six of that company's Top 10 all-time hits, including The Passion of the Christ and the second Star Wars prequel, Attack of the Clones.

Says Hong: "All indicators point to [next Thursday] as a very busy night at theaters across the country."

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-10-2008, 07:49 AM:

NY Times ran an article on 7/9 discussing the high demand for early tickets. This was picked up today by the local paper. Locally, many midnight shows are still available, but the Imax Jr. has sold out at midnight and has added a 3:15 show. My guess is lots of people will hit the bars until 2 (when they close), and then go to the theatre.

I'd sign up for a 6:00am show. I've seen movies at 3:00 before and at 8:00am before, so that would sort of complete the circle.

Other than that, its the same movie on Monday as it is on Friday, so I'll just wait for the crowds to die down.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-11-2008, 08:55 PM:

After selling out the Cine-Capri we have now added a 3:30am showing in the Capri. This to go on top of the 6-7 screens we will be running for the 12:01 showings. We have also added an 8:10am showing on Friday morning.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-12-2008, 12:14 AM:

IME lists the running time for Dark Knight as 152 minutes. Yowza, some tight scheduling and late nights ahead.

Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-12-2008, 02:31 AM:

I think we have sold about 10 tickets for our 6PM Wednesday session. I have one for it already... I can't wait.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-12-2008, 11:23 AM:

quote: Ross Oba
Highly unlikely considering it's only screening starting at midnight instead of 7pm like Hancock.

That didn't stop them from locking Indiana Jones

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 07-12-2008, 04:40 PM:

quote: Darryl Spicer
That didn't stop them from locking Indiana Jones

I assume they did that because it came out on a Thursday instead of the normal Friday.

But then again, Paramount are very uptight about piracy so I wouldn't be surprised if they started to do it with every one of their releases (sneak preview or not).

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-13-2008, 08:11 AM:

quote:
"It's normal for movies like to this start at midnight,"

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 07-16-2008, 06:10 PM:

quote: Kurt Zupin
After selling out the Cine-Capri we have now added a 3:30am showing in the Capri.

Concession per caps are going to be awful...

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-17-2008, 12:33 PM:

Regal 15 in Eugene now has 7 midnight shows scheduled (4 prints + interlocks). 4 shows are sold out as of now according to Fandango.

Posted by Drew Daniluck (Member # 4678) on 07-17-2008, 01:12 PM:

Here in Rockville, Maryland, we got 4 prints. We have 9 screens booked for the midnight screening tonight... Interlock madness. So far we are at 1500 tickets sold, with about 200 to go until we are completely sold out.
Its going to be awesome.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-17-2008, 01:24 PM:

Well, here it is Thursday noon. Our county fair is in town, so I went to the fairgrounds this morning and put up some posters advertising the midnight show and I got our marquee kid to come in early this morning and put "MIDNIGHT SHOW TONITE" on the bottom row of the marquee....

...and our freaking print isn't here yet. Talk about a leap of faith. [Eek!]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-17-2008, 01:58 PM:

..and no locks on the cans ..."Whew!"

I put both of our prints together last night (wow, prints arrived on a Wednesday!!) and ran them down for the staff and me to watch!

..went home exhausted from watching the film - what a terrific movie!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-17-2008, 02:56 PM:

Well, HALF of our print just arrived. Stupid last-minute shipments. Supposedly UPS screwed up and delivered 4 cans to the theatre in Miles City. Oh well at least we know where it is (45 miles away).

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 07-17-2008, 03:18 PM:

Thought you would enjoy this

Dark Knight IMAX Tickets on e-bay

Cinematical
Auction Block: 'Dark Knight' IMAX Tickets
by Erik Davis Jul 17th 2008 // 10:32AM

Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition

My brother called me up yesterday asking whether he should go see The Dark Knight in IMAX this Friday. I think I laughed for roughly five minutes straight before explaining to him that IMAX tickets for this flick are sold out for at least a week (in NYC). But I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who caught the buzz late and really want to see this film on an IMAX screen opening weekend. I think you know where I'm going with this ...

Yes, you can currently find an assortment of Dark Knight IMAX tickets up for sale on eBay. Seeing this film in NYC is so popular that one pair of tickets for a Sunday morning 10am show is about to sell for $89! After 20 bids! That's insane. Someone is going to pay almost ninety dollars to see a movie on a Sunday morning. But not all the tickets are that expensive: You can get three tickets for a showing at the Mall of Georgia for only $30, or you can spend a whopping $200 for two tickets to the one IMAX theater in Kentucky. Or -- and this is the kicker -- what about $350 for the opening 3am show in West Nyack, New Jersey.

Anyone crazy enough to buy some jacked-up IMAX tickets off eBay? How much would you pay?

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-17-2008, 05:17 PM:

Holy crap, they added 2 more midnight shows here for 9 total, and 6 now show as sold out on Fandango.

Posted by Robert Crabtree (Member # 4795) on 07-17-2008, 06:51 PM:

The theatre playing this where I graduated, has NINE midnights and a 3:15 SOLD OUT, and a second 3:15 pending sell out. Somewhat small theatres, but still CUH-RAZY.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-17-2008, 07:14 PM:

You must be talking about Regal Gainesville 14?

The midnight sellouts I understand but 3:15????????? For a 3 hour movie????

I know it's a college town but still 3:15 AM for a MOVIE?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-17-2008, 08:19 PM:

quote: Lyle Romer
know it's a college town but still 3:15 AM for a MOVIE

Back in 1999, when SW:I popped on the screen, we had mids three's and six a.m. showings on that film. So, that's a nutting factor there...kids do anything for entertainment..

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-17-2008, 09:36 PM:

Well now the Regal 15 here lists 10 midnite shows, and a 3:20AM show, and every one of them is sold out.

Cinemark 17 has 4 midnite shows (and no interlock capability?), also with all of them sold out.

Tickets are still available for the midnite shows of "Space Chimps" and "Mamma Mia!" though. [Eek!]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-18-2008, 02:04 AM:

quote: David Stambaugh
and no interlock capability

Should have if they're all digital...bet they can tie up as many houses through the server network.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-18-2008, 03:16 AM:

quote: David Stambaugh
Cinemark 17 has 4 midnite shows (and no interlock capability?), also with all of them sold out.

That's a load of [bs]

They just don't know how to set up and use two or more people to start the shows.

I ran 4 prints on 9 screens and they were all sold out.

Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 07-18-2008, 03:23 AM:

Not quite a load of crap. I've been in that booth a few times.....not an interlock roller in sight. Christie booth. Only 1 digital projector.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-18-2008, 03:35 AM:

Is that one of those booths where the projectors are around corners and not in a straight line? On ours I created ways to make it work. Using make up tables and their rollers to get the film from one projector to the one behind it and then going to the next projector using the acumulators on the platters and readjusting rolers on projectors. We are all Christie and we have one digital projector.

Posted by Ben Goodman (Member # 4770) on 07-18-2008, 04:26 AM:

Sold out 12 theatres at midnight-- attendance of approximately 3000. God bless interlocks.

Posted by Jaime Tuzzio (Member # 4760) on 07-18-2008, 06:22 AM:

quote: Tristan Lane
Not quite a load of crap. I've been in that booth a few times.....not an interlock roller in sight. Christie booth. Only 1 digital projector.

You know, I always wanted to see their booth. On rare occasion we had to pick up a print from them when I worked at Cinema World but they always brought it down to me. Boo. We were thankful they didn't interlock 'cause we always got their ever-so-grateful sell-out overflow.

quote: Darryl Spicer
Is that one of those booths where the projectors are around corners and not in a straight line? On ours I created ways to make it work.

When I read the first line I was going contest it even mattering that there are corners involved. Heck, I've watched the interlock video here.

I had 4 prints & 10 auds with three interlocks (a double, a triple, and a quadruple, and one house on its own). Only the quad was a straight shot, and the triple involves two corners and a double-back. If I hadn't had to steal the analog assy. off of my 35mm paired with my digital there would have been an additional house and two doubles or two triples (never had to make the decision - but the second triple would have been three corners to go around (and blocked access to a store room [Smile]

)).

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-18-2008, 09:26 AM:

quote: Darryl Spicer
Is that one of those booths where the projectors are around corners and not in a straight line?

The booth is laid out like a big "H". Sixteen 35mm, one digital. Very spacious. They have projectors lined up in neat rows. All Christie like Tristan said.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 07-19-2008, 04:55 AM:

This movie is gargantuan huge. According to early reports this monster made $66 million on Friday alone. That breaks the all-time opening day record. Also, it will end up with around $157 million which also breaks the all-time opening weekend record.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 07-19-2008, 05:55 AM:

And everyone I've talked to loved it and will see it again.

Big business.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-19-2008, 06:31 AM:

And to think...it wasn't even in 3D!

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-19-2008, 06:55 AM:

We ended up on 10 screens with 6 prints for the midnights for 2800 people and 2 screens at 3:30 am for 850+. When the people were leaving the theatre at 6am, people were lining up for the 8:10 show. We were busy as hell tonight, 8000+ people for Dark Knight alone.