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.
Just show up late. That’s what I do.
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.
Are you posting from 2007?
Must be spill over from the meme groups posting ancient stale memes
You can ask the workers when the movie actually starts and they will tell you. There’s a schedule they have printed every day or a digital one they can reference usually. They will also tell you the exact time the credits end for better scheduling
Not for our chain.
They tell you when the screening starts and the runtime of the movie.
Which obviously includes creditsOh heck, I never thought of just asking! (Admittedly, I’m usually high as balls and socially awkward at a movie but still!)
So are the workers
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.
Cinemas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just go in 20 minutes later? Been doing it for years at this point.
Worth pointing out this wasn’t really a possibility before theaters switched to reserved spots. I remember having to be ass in seat before the projector even fired up if you wanted a good spot on a premiere weekend. Sucked an hour suffering through preshow trivia, ads, and trailers.
I love reserved seating. And they seem to have given up on selling lots of tickets. The chairs in my theater are huge and widely spaced.
I do this at un-reserved theaters too. Just gotta be more flexible with your seating. Unless the theater’s absolutely packed and you get stuck at the very front, most of the seats are going to give you a good experience. It’s what the theater’s designed for.
Fair, I’m probably bit more picky I can’t stand being anywhere outside the center radius. Too close to walls bugs me because the audio volume and balance is off lol
If the balance is off, by which way? I.E if you’re seated too far to the left, will It be too loud in your left ear, or too quiet?
If seated near the left wall, the sounds that should be mixed to the left side of the scene are too loud, overwhelming the whole precievable audio mix and sounding more mono than it should. Sort of loses the whole “immersive surround sound” aspect that I’m spending my dollars for.
I’m lucky that my city has a true IMAX theater and unlucky that it doesn’t have reserved seating, in this day and age. So I have to arrive an hour early just so I can stand in line and get a good seat.
Is it always 20 minutes? Or is it sometimes 15 minutes and sometimes 25 minutes?
It can vary. I haven’t been to many movies lately, but 25 minutes of ads was pretty standard at the chain cinemas with the popular movies. Smaller theaters and/or smaller movies could be as low as 10 minutes sometimes. Just gotta keep in mind the context and plan accordingly.
Seems pretty simple to me. Some folks just need to be mad at their own lack of cognitive faculty.
We retreat into smug self satisfaction not because we’re happy with a situation, but because we feel powerless against it, and yet still need to feel as though we’ve conquered it. alternatively
Exactly
You’ll figure it out some day.
Got a laugh! OP, it’s been like this since I was a teenager, in the 80s.
No wasn’t like that where I watched movies in the 80’s and 90’s. Hell even in the early part of the 2000’s it wasn’t. You had your trailers sure, but we loved that. Now its freaking ad, after ad. Or the stupid movie trivia.
Oh I get you. Yeah the ads are relatively new. Previews were better than the ads imo.
Movie previews make sense to see before a movie. “Here are some other movies you might like to see later.”
Trailers are not ads?
Not the kind of ads I am bitching about. Talking about the shit ads you are forced to see without an ad blocker online.
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.
Since you get to pick your seat when you buy your ticket, I’ve been showing up 20 minutes after the start time. I catch the tail end of the endless trailers and haven’t missed any of the movie yet.
I don’t think they thought this through…
They did think it through.
The money they make from advertising is the same whether you show up on time or not. I’m pretty sure reserved seating nets them more concession stand income as people know they have ‘extra’ time to buy something and still get the seat they wanted.
The really frustrating thing back when the ads were first being shoved in was not having a consistent amount of ad time, so guessing the real start time was a pain.
I can agree that ad revenue hasn’t changed much, but it would be interesting to see how many hits each ad get, which can be determined by what time a person redeems their ticket. If anything, I’d guess that fewer people see the ads, based solely on my own experience. And also based solely on my own experience, I don’t think concession sales have changed, either.
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 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
They just announced they were upping the ad content. You are seeing it in real time.
