How will digital screens change the scheduling of blockbusters?

By Sarah Sluis

Earlier this year, when I spoke to a theatre manager for an unrelated article, he mentioned that their new all-digital theatre was able to show four simultaneous Twilight: New Moon midnight screenings to meet demand--half of the small town's eight screens. In the past, the theatre would have needed four prints in order to show the movie on four screens. Because of advance ticket sales, they were able to set aside the correct amount of auditoriums and fill four theatres with Twilight fans. As entire theatres to convert to digital, the combination of digital projection and advance ticket sale websites has the potential to change the movie exhibition landscape.

Because people are willing to pay surcharges for highly anticipated

movies, advance ticket sales for blockbusters will have the greatest effect on how movies are booked. If a blockbuster could sell out

half the multiplex in one night, wouldn't theatre owners just change

the schedule to get all those people into theatres? There's no way Twilight: New Moon could have earned $72 million in one day (a single-day record) without pre-sold shows and multiple theatres playing the movie at fan-centered times like midnight.

Today, for example, Regal reported robust ticket sales for Sex and the City 2 (opening six weeks from now), which outpaced sales of Kick-Ass last weekend. Depending on ticket sales, Regal can most likely add screenings to meet demand, depending on any contractual obligations it might have to show other movies X amount of times.

Advance movie tickets stand to become more popular as more

people buy smart phones that enable them to buy movie tickets. Fandango, Movietickets.com and others already have

iPhone apps for that purpose. Cost, however, will always be something

of an issue. People will only buy tickets in advance if convenience

trumps cost, and heading over for a Sunday afternoon show probably

isn't one of those times. Plus, movie theatres have to set their schedules in advance. While they can switch a movie to a larger theatre if it's playing better than expected, they can't change showtimes once they're published online and in newspapers.

One thing digital projection probably won't be able to change is the annoyance of a sold-out show on a Friday and Saturday night, when even middling movies sell out theatres. If you're lucky, it's playing in

multiple theatres and you can catch the show an hour later (if the next show's not sold out). If you're not as lucky, it's either choose

another movie, wait two hours for a better option, or go home. For those making last-minute decisions, it would be great to be able to purchase a ticket on a phone (no fees) if it's within a couple hours of a show. It gives the consumer more choice. If you can see that a show is sold out, you can pick a second-choice movie and show up later, or search for another movie theatre in the area. If fans buying tickets in advance for Harry Potter or Sex and the City or Avatar is beneficial for the theatres, they should find a way to let consumers buy tickets slightly in advance without tacking on extra fees.