Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, the latest installment in the MCU coming to theaters on April 26, is expected to be the biggest blockbuster movie of 2019. It has already broken all kinds of records before it has even been released. Despite the buzz, Endgame is now posing potential problems for movie theaters with its current runtime of over 3 hours, the longest MCU movie to date.
While moviegoers are going to have to push through without any intermission breaks, a longer runtime also means there are less showings per movie theater per day. Less showings could negatively impact how opening weekend plays out for Endgame. Traditionally, theater owners generally factor in three hours for the average 2-hour-and-something movie screening. This time frame allows pre-show trailers to run right before a movie start and for janitors to clean up the theater room before the next screening starts. According to the Variety, “given the extended length of ‘Endgame,’ exhibitors are budgeting an additional hour for each screening, which cuts at least one showtime daily.”
To combat this issue, movie theaters that have more than one screen are looking into increasing the number of individual auditoriums that play ‘Endgame’, even if it means reserving half of a movie theater just for Marvel’s epic finale. If that is the case, this could mean MASSIVE box office results in the opening weekend alone for one of the most anticipated superhero films of the year.
SOURCE : Variety
probably at the movies.
