Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: What happens when movies open early in the week?

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Posted by Sarah Treichel (Member # 10857) on 05-17-2019, 11:26 AM:

I have been lurking a while, but this is my first post. I am a total noob to the movie theater business and I have a massively noob-type question. How do you handle it when you have a movie booked for a particular playweek Fri-Thu and your next film opens on Tuesday? I do the booking for our little two-screen cinema and I'm wondering what will happen if I've got two movies showing 6/28 through 7/4, but Spider-Man opens on 7/2.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-17-2019, 01:22 PM:

You just tell the outgoing movie's studio that you are opening the new movie on Tuesday. They may or may not be OK with the short week.....most of the time they'll be OK with it, considering the bulk of the business happens on the weekend. They would rather take a short week than lose a booking altogether.

The big thing is, don't just end the other movie without informing the studio. As long as they know what you're doing you should be fine.

Posted by Mark Lane (Member # 10848) on 06-05-2019, 03:03 PM:

We too are opening Spiderman on Tuesday.
You have likely told the studio of the movie you are playing before Spiderman that they will have a clean screen. You risk your relationship with the studio if you don't honor your word.

You have to think ahead. If you want to open a movie on Tuesday, you need to find a studio that is okay with that... which means it is unlikely it will be a new blockbuster movie but most studios will work with you if you are willing to show an slightly older movie.
The Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Spiderman's Tuesday opening, we will be showing a Pureflix movie. The licensing fees are very low and a local church is willing to sponsor the weekend. Pureflix is okay with us only showing their older movie on the weekend, for very little money, the church gets some exposure to possible new members, we make money on the concession stand, and open Spiderman on Tuesday.
Scheduling movies for a one to two screen theater is like putting together a puzzle. See what you would like to play then start calling the studios... then crunch the numbers and see if playing a movie for three or four days will be profitable.