Why do Movie Previews Take so Long?
It’s a blessing and a curse to live five minutes away from an AMC Theater.
I love being so close to my “place of worship,” filled with scuffed red seats and a new Dolby Theater that employees don’t know how to use.
However, each time I go it costs me a nice $6.25 at matinee per visit.
When I go to the theater, I always show up 20 minutes late.
For example, if Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! starts at 8 PM, I’ll arrive at 8:20.
I know what you’re thinking: “Oh god, Mark! You’re going to miss the movie! And if you miss it, how will you review it for all of us? I always check out one of your reviews before I go out to the theater!”
I appreciate the concern, but I’m not actually late for the showing.
When my butt’s in the chair, the movie is ready to roll because I show up after the previews play.
At major theater chains like AMC, Regal, Cinemark and Bow Tie, the length of trailers prior to the featured presentation seem to be getting longer.
Even when I roll up at the movies as late as I do, the coming attractions are still playing for another five minutes.
Nowadays, trailers are worth avoiding because they give too much away.
At an average length between two to two and a half minutes, it feels like you’ve watched the movie from beginning to end.
Granted, there are audiences who enjoy catching sneak peeks.
With tickets costing an average of $9.16, viewers want to see what’s worth going to next.
They’re not willing to go to a movie if they’re interested in the plot; people want to catch a glimpse of Jason Statham stabbing The Meg with a spear or Jamie Lee Curtis running after Mike Myers in another Halloween, so they know it’s worth their time and money.
But for over 20 minutes? C’mon people, let’s just get to the movie!
Why are trailers taking so long before the show?
Well, the first and obvious answer is that theaters want to generate enthusiasm for upcoming flicks.
In the eight previews shown before the main picture, there’s bound to be one that will catch someone’s interest.
However, the theater isn’t the exclusive place to catch sneak peeks anymore.
Millions of viewers check out previews on YouTube daily, so by the time they get to the theater, it may be a regurgitation of what they’ve already seen.
Another factor is to give audiences enough time to buy concessions.
If viewers know they have 20 minutes before the main event, they may get antsy and head to the food stand to buy a small popcorn for $10 (it’s $11 with butter).
Twenty minutes also gives viewers plenty of time to get settled in.
Maybe the line’s long at the box office or the self-service ticket machines are down (like they always are at an AMC on a SATURDAY NIGHT), so the trailers give folks comfort if they might be running late.
While these factors play some role in the lengthening of trailers, Assistant Professor of Interactive Digital Media, Dickie Cox, M.F.A., looks at the issue from the studio’s perspective of a movie as an investment.
Cox said, “Because of the increasing distribution options for films and TV and the growing quality of serialized video on streaming services, Hollywood films seem to be moving increasingly towards trying to replicate the content and brands of its previous successes.”
Cox continued with, “This is leading to more films being created in the mode of the smash-action, visual-explosion of the summer blockbusters. Those films have expensive overhead for the cost of special effects and require lots of advertising and hype-building to cover the costs of the productions and to make profit for the studios.”
Cox understood the studio and theater’s way to spark excitement with, “The way to build hype is to tease films early and often and to release multiple trailers as an effort to get the audience back in the seats on opening weekends in the future.”
“Often, exclusive looks and secret trailers are offered to the attending fans to draw them to panel discussions for upcoming releases” Cox indicated.
Cox’s points solidify that this benefits studios and shows there are plenty of people who enjoy checking out trailers before a movie.
Among my friends, I’m the only guy who encourages us to get to the theater late.
A majority of my friends love watching scenes from upcoming Marvel flicks, even if it means sitting through 15 minutes of garbage to reach the moment where Thor shows off a shiny hammer to his mouth drooling fanboys for five seconds.
For those who want the movie to start promptly, a solution to this issue could be to play the previews ahead of the main showing time.
If people want to get their fix for trailers, they have the option to see it ahead of time.
For those who show up on time, they’ll be pleased to get the show on the road.
An additional measure is for the editors of movie trailers to cut them shorter.
At two and a half minutes, there could be too much given away and it lengthens the wait time for the reason why everyone’s there.
At one minute, we could breeze through eight trailers.
Considering the studios’ push to generate buzz around their latest arrivals, concession stand sales and a favorable response from audiences, it doesn’t seem like trailers will get any shorter.
However, there’s hope.
A couple months ago, I attended a screening of The Guardians in a Philadelphia theater called Ritz at the Bourse.
The movie started after a single preview. It was as if after I blinked, it was show time; a moment I’ve always dreamed of!
Unfortunately, that made up for my hour long drive.
IMAGE TAKEN from health.howstuffworks.com
