Alright, this has to stop. A couple of weeks ago Disney took the bizarre tact of releasing Pirates of the Caribbean a day early, and at 8 o’clock, forgoeing the traditional 12:01am screenings which might accompany an “event” movie like this. Now, it looks like Paramount is doing the same thing with Transformers.
ComingSoon broke the news and they say Michael Bay’s giant freakin robot movie will arrive at 8pm on July 2nd instead of just opening on July 3rd as planned. This new trend in greed sucks all around, and I’m going to tell you why.
First, it sucks for the studio because they’re basically shooting themselves in the foot at the box office. Part of the reason that Pirates of the Caribbean 3 didn’t come closer to matching up with the box office totals of Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3 was that they couldn’t count the $14 million the movie made during it’s 8pm screenings with the film’s weekend totals. It happened before the weekend, it doesn’t count. Spider-Man 3 on the other hand, got to count the money it made just a few hours later at those 12:01 am screenings, since technically the screening starts on the following day, the first day of the weekend. So Disney, and now Paramount, are screwing themselves out of the inflated first-day totals they so covet. In the case of Transformers, they’re screwing themselves out of holiday box office. July 4th is on Wednesday, that’s when they should be opening. Then the headlines will all be about how big the movie’s massive holiday opening is. Instead, it’ll sputter out on Monday, blow it’s opening day load early, and coast past July 4th quietly.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, by releasing the movie at a stupid time like 8pm instead of waiting till 12:01am, they take all the fun right out of being there for the first showing of the movie. Any idiot can and will show up to an 8pm screening. To be there at a midnight showing takes commitment. Midnight shows can be, and often are an event! If you’ve never been to one, you’ve missed a great movie experience. They’re filled with real fans who are generally really excited to see the movie and that excitement washes over the audience as everyone sort of bonds together to stay awake and have one helluva time.. Those fans in turn generate buzz with that excitement. News crews bring their cameras by to show the lines outside, the people who make the midnight screening stumble into work the next day half asleep, and then brag to all their friends about how they stayed up all night to be the first to see the movie. None of that is going to happen with an 8pm Monday screening. You know what you’ll get at an 8pm screening? Soccer moms and screaming kids, that’s what you’ll get.
There’s nothing fun or exciting about showing up to see Transformers after a leisurely, early dinner. The media isn’t going to cover it, geeks aren’t going to line up for it, and all the fun your fans might have had, all the buzz that might have been generated by a midnight showing is now effectively gone. Great job Paramount, you’ve managed to take some of the fun right out of seeing your movie.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Transformers-Deflates-Fans-And-Opens-At-Dusk-5365.html
