Some Questions about movies and movie theaters

Submitted by pandaocean168 t3_11dv51q in movies

I work at a movie theater but there a few things that bug me, so i have some questions

Why do movie theaters tend to have so many showtimes scrunched together? for example 1:00pm, 1:05, 1:15pm, 1:20pm, and 1:25pm

Why do blockbuster movies release in november, december, march, april, and most of summer (june-late august)?

Why do senior citizens come to movies in flocks more than younger people not to mention they go to the movies on the slow days but younger people don’t as much?

Why do some movies that people expect from to do bad become successful while some movies expect people to be a big hit flop?

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SaulsAll t1_jab0etr wrote

From my time working at a theater:

>showtimes scrunched together?

The theaters usually run in blocks with staggered times. So the theater would open around 10-11am, with shows starting every 10 minutes or so. That way they arent all getting out at the same time and the cleaning crew can hit each theater as it empties. Allow a few minutes in between for the new viewers to get settled, and then a new block starts.

>blockbuster movies release in november, december, march, april, and most of summer

There are various "seasons" to releases. Big tentpoles are usually in summer because school is out and allow for more viewers. Christmas and Thanksgiving time are also big release times, and usually have the largest crowds - more than summer. End of fall for horror. Jan-Mar is usually the time for the movies with lower expectations. And so on.

>senior citizens come to movies in flocks more than younger people not to mention they go to the movies on the slow days but younger people don’t as much?

Retired people have more free time and can choose times with cheaper tickets and smaller audiences.

>Why do some movies that people expect from to do bad become successful while some movies expect people to be a big hit flop?

You figure that out and you could make a career in Hollywood.

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pandaocean168 OP t1_jab0jrz wrote

i work at theater where there’s rushes with showtimes close together

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SaulsAll t1_jab1whd wrote

Exactly. when you open, you want to open all the theaters, so there's a rush. Then most movies are close to the same run length - maybe a 90 minute kid's movie or a big 3 hour blockbuster, but most are around 105m-120m. So there will be ~30 minute span where the movies are getting out and the crews are cleaning, then the next block starts ~10 minutes after that. So another rush. The manager is trying to keep each theater playing as many times as they can during operating hours.

The main reason to break from this model is when you have a long movie playing in multiple theaters. Like when Interstellar came out and the 15 theater plex I worked at had 4 theaters playing it including the IMAX so you could get a start time every 30 minutes or so.

Edit: more accurate runtimes

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Serious_Guard_5895 t1_jab058y wrote

About the second questions, why not? the owner is already paying for the employees, for the energy and everything else

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RICKASTLEYNEGGS t1_jabahk2 wrote

>Why do blockbuster movies release in november, december, march, april, and most of summer (june-late august)?

A lot of what you picked connects to when people have off from school.

> Why do senior citizens come to movies in flocks more than younger people not to mention they go to the movies on the slow days but younger people don’t as much?

similar reasoning to the last one...they've got free time and nothing better to do

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pandaocean168 OP t1_jabd92l wrote

but what puzzles me is that before ticket to paradise. i started in september senior citizens hardly even wanted to go, after that movie and ones with older celebrties all of sudden they want to go to the movies

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Darth_Nevets t1_jabexhy wrote

Old people are an audience that was out of the theater game big time from the pandemic and only started to return. Since they are older seeing stars they are familiar with is a major draw to them, as is the tired genre and plot. Seeing as so many movies look back on their generation and all of their mistakes it's no wonder the fantasy of Top Gun topped the domestic box office.

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bookwormaesthetic t1_jabmbii wrote

I have observed that senior living facilities host movie outings where they have a bus/van that transports them as a group.

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