Sick of going to the movies and they supposed to start and yet its twenty minutes of freaking ads.
I have been timing movie previews since August 2022. I was posting the data weekly on Twitter but I stopped using Twitter when the sale to Elon was finalized.
My Qualifications
I have a monthly pass that allows me to go up to 4 times a week. I also worked at a theater for 4 years, with part of that time being as a manager and projectionist. I have selected and put ad rolls on the film myself.
I go every Sunday morning. I started timing ads and previews before the movie started and logging them in a chart, but I am not a data analyst. I am just an annoyed theater patron.
Movie Previews and Ad Roll Lengths
Note: Most of my data is from seeing movies at AMC. I can’t guarantee every theater will be this way but theaters that use digital film distribution instead of physical film should be similar.
Timing start at the scheduled showtime and start the moment the last ad stops and the film credits start.
If you go to AMC, the Nicole Kidman ad is always the last one. I stop counting as soon as she says “AMC Theaters, we make movies better.”
- You can safely go to the theater 15 minutes late every single time.
- Ads ranged from 17 min to 31 min.
- Once, the movie started exactly on time with no ads at all, but that was two years after I started timing previews. This is an outlier.
- Newer movies have longer ads. Movies in the larger rooms have longer ads. IMAX, Dolby, Laser, Prime, and 3D/movies 4D have longer ads. For these movies, ads tend to run approximately 24-27 min.
- The longer the movie has been out the shorter the ad roll length.
- The studio/distributor behind the movie also matters. Indies and smaller budgets have less ads, but big studios like Disney and Sony have more. Studios like Searchlight and Focus can be deceptive as they are owned by bigger companies but they still aren’t as bad as said larger conglomerates.
TLDR: I tracked movie ad times for years and recommend showing up 15 minutes late.
Growing up in Sweden, ads were not allowed in TV. So only time you got to see ads was at the movie. So ads felt special and fun to watch.
It’s fun to try guessing what brand the ad is for (up to a point). I hate when they tease me as if the movie is about to start and then start playing more ads instead.
Movie trailers are good though. Have seen some that I’d never have watched without seeing a trailer there.
Yeah that pisses me. They say now enjoy your movie and get another 10 minutes of ads.
I love the ads lol, new movies. Dope as hell.
Love trailers, fucking hate ads for cars and stupid bullshit played before or after trailers.
Oh absolutely.
Idk where I am I don’t see many non movie ads
I like to see the ads so I know what to get excited to see. I also like it as late protection where if we are late we know the movie still hasn’t started. Add 15 mins for the “real” start time.
Just show up late. That’s what I do.
I leave for the theater when its scheduled to start. I’m in my seat with usually a few minutes to spare. Its super nice living so close to the theater.
Are you posting from 2007?
Must be spill over from the meme groups posting ancient stale memes
Oh yeah? I went to go see Dogma last week. The movie started right on time. I missed out the buddy christ bit because we were busy getting snacks and hitting the bathroom thinking weve got plenty of time.
You’ve got to know the policy of the theatre you’re going to.
Lol get rekt.
Buddy of mine suggested going to a theatre in anotger city. He said there will be no ads and so we hurried instead of going slow and chill.
Turns out there were the usual 20min of ads and we had plenty of time.
So not even the theatre has only one policy.Weird. It’s pretty consistent at the ones I go to.
There used to be a scary logo animation for National Amusements that used to scare me as a child. It gives me the creeps now still.
It was all neon and then there would be a creepy screen to show you where the exits were.
https://youtu.be/xkuWSpljM5g And https://youtu.be/TK3rSOrE6L0
(Not directly related but this reminded me of it.)
I like the movie trailers. But one of the theaters i used to go to started showing 5 minutes of ads, like the premovie soda and popcorn, cars, etc. I dont go to that one anymore.
Well, one of the symptoms how stuff gets rid of itself. Also prices and other things.
It’s a luxury issue really and cinemas and in part the entertainment industry can cry me a river.
I don’t know in my cinema it’s usually max. 5-10 Minutes. Sometimes even no commercials at all.
It’s an independent one though.
Nope Life Of Chuck. 30 minutes after movie start time did it actually start. This is at a Cinimax.
They just announced they were upping the ad content. You are seeing it in real time.
I was going to mention that this was one of the reasons I like going to the last remaining drive-in theater in my area, since it doesn’t do that. Then I realized that it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a movie there, and decided to check what’s playing. 3 of the 4 “now playing” movies and 13 out of 15 “coming soon” movies are sequels or reboots. And now I’m mildly infuriated, too.
