haven't seen Watchmen yet
Mar. 10th, 2009 12:41 pm... but saw a news item about it that made me think:
They were talking about its performance at the box office, and someone pointed out that, because it's so long, most theatres can only run it once a night instead of a more usual two or even three. Therefore that limits the number of tickets you can sell in a given time, e.g., on opening weekend.
Obvious after it's spelled out for me, but I admit I never thought about that before. Now I see why studios are always fretting so much about movies running too long. Could Watchmen have doubled its gross this weekend if it was shorter?
They were talking about its performance at the box office, and someone pointed out that, because it's so long, most theatres can only run it once a night instead of a more usual two or even three. Therefore that limits the number of tickets you can sell in a given time, e.g., on opening weekend.
Obvious after it's spelled out for me, but I admit I never thought about that before. Now I see why studios are always fretting so much about movies running too long. Could Watchmen have doubled its gross this weekend if it was shorter?