Todd Phillips: Movie Theaters Should Ban Commercials Before Films
Todd Phillips: Movie Theaters Should Ban Commercials Before Films
"Joker" director Todd Phillips thinks movie theaters need to stop showing so many commercials before film screenings.
I’d be more concerned that there aren’t going to be any movie theaters left at this rate. The studios own all the streaming channels now — they’re going to cut out the middle man.
They tried that during the pandemic and didn't like it.
This. There's little point in seeing most films in a theater when they will be streaming a few months later.
That’s not too different from renting a movie a few months later. Theaters have always been more fun to go to for a movie you actually care about.
The problem I have with theaters is that the time and money sink is a terrible value these days. For my wife and I it’s always somehow shy of $70 and takes up most the night.
Kill the ads for sure, but go ahead and give me movie trailers before the start, but with some limitations in place:
- None of this "THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW" before the trailer starts
- The trailer must have a maximum length so it doesn't go on too long
- The trailer shouldn't give the entire plot away
The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
Someone once told me that once you decide to watch a movie you should no longer watch trailers for it. My experience has been that it was a good piece of advice. It's INSANE how much of the plot some trailers give away. I remember people put together the entire plot of Prometheus before it was released just from all the spoilers in the trailers, and that's not even the worst offender.
This is what I have always done. I have a very good memory, and I've lost count how many times I've been let down by a film purely because of the trailer(s) beforehand just exposing all elements.
I've been doing this with games and movies for years. It's so much fun to go into something blind with zero expectations, makes the whole experience a lot more exciting.
On the flip side, it big sucks when a trailer shows all of the cool parts, and it turns out those couple of moments were the only good parts of the movie.
The trailer is about ~2 minutes of different action scenes that looks fantastic. Then when you see the movie it's a snooze fest minus the few minutes of action, all of which were shown in the trailer.
None of this "THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW" before the trailer starts
Trailers played in movie theaters do not include this. That is only used for online ads, because sometimes the trailer will play as a pre-roll ad and they don't want people to skip it.
The trailer shouldn't give the entire plot away
There's a reason studios do this. They run focus groups for trailers, and studies have shown that the more plot they reveal, the more likely audiences will buy a ticket to see the movie.
A trailer or two for upcoming films is acceptable. When I used to be a fan of movies, I wanted to be informed of other movies that were potentially interesting to me. 20 years of Comics And Comics Alone have cured me of cinema, so.
This is how I run Plex anything unwatched in our collection does a better job of convincing my other half to watch some looks Hitchcock movie than I can
I'm lucky enough to have a theater nearby where I can pre-purchase a particular seat. Once the seat's bought, I just show up 25 min after the "start time" and skip the ads.
With the Advent of reserved seating I don't get why this is an issue anymore. Buy the seat you want, let the companies buying ads subsidize your ticket price, and show up after they've played. There's no reason anymore to be stuck in your seat for 20 minutes before show time.
My local theater: Ticket window opens 10 minutes before the start time. Cash only. No reserved seating. No commercials. It's a blank screen until the trailers start.
We get two new first run movies a week to choose from.
I think the regular ticket price is $7. We always go during matinee so it's only $5.
Going to my local theater is like walking into the past where everything except the movie showing is a throwback to the 80s.
Don't assume all theaters have reserved seating or any other modem thing.