Open Forum Friday: Should Late Moviegoers Still Be Allowed Entry to a Theatre?

Posted by on November 9th, 2012   Filed under: Open Forum Friday

With the plethora of problems that moviegoers have to put up with nowadays, from talking and texting to the extra loud consumption of food, there is one frequent annoyance that doesn’t seem to get quite as much attention: late arrivals. It never fails that five or ten minutes into a film, a group of stragglers will barge through the door, whispering loudly to each other and stumbling over other people as they try to find a seat. It can be pretty distracting. I think this has only gotten worse in recent years, partially because there are so many trailers before movies, but also because people seem to assume that the first few minutes of a movie are unimportant (which is obviously not true).

This week the Alamo Drafthouse have announced a new policy where they will no longer seat people who arrive once the movie has started. They will still allow people to get up and go to the bathroom, however, because it’s not quite as annoying for others if you return already knowing where your seat is. It sounds good in theory, but it does potentially force moviegoers to sit through all of the trailers, and it will also force theatre staff to turn away paying customers. What do you think? Is it inconsiderate to arrive fashionably late to a movie? Would you welcome a restriction like this at your local multiplex? Do you care if you miss the first five minutes of a movie? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.



  • Even with assigned seating this is still a huge annoyance and I’m all for closing the doors once a movie has started. That said, if theatres would list the actual movie start times rather than the commercial and trailer start times, that might help those who like to arrive just as the movie starts.

    For busy screenings, it would be great if they adopted the film festivals process: have an usher who knows where the empty seats are and guides you to them. Wishful thinking, I know, but a girl can wish.

  • Steve

    I’ve gotta say, Alama Drafthouse seems to be getting snobbier and snobbier. Unless the door opening is directly facing the screen, it shouldn’t distract from the movie. And unless people are literally wandering into the middle of the row before choosing their seat, they aren’t blocking the screen. I dislike interruptions as much as the next guy, but this seems excessive.
    I think a greater annoyance is seat-savers. A friend and I went to see a Saturday evening show once and at one point were turned away from FOUR OPEN SEATS because someone sitting next to them said “Sorry, these are saved.” I know certain midnight screenings are very tough on this, but I wish it were more enforced.

  • scott
  • La Menthe

    They can fix the issue by starting the film at the referenced time (for example 21:00), and not 5-15 minutes after (21:15), after a ton of commercials. That’s how it is over here. Commercials are one of the reasons I always go late to a film (ironically, I still get to catch another 5 minutes of commercials before the movie starts, when I get there late).

  • I agree with Steve. Alamo Drafthouse is getting a little too snooty.

  • Indianamcclain

    I agree with everyone else. The number of commercials is ridiculous, actually it’s getting to the point where there are too many trailers. When I saw Flight I had to sit through 7 trailers.

  • scott

    The trailers before Cloud Atlas were brutal. We were in there for over 3 hours. Not fair to the awesome film.

  • scott gibbons

    Trailors and adverts, fair enough, let them in,but sometimes its 30 minutes of the film on top, these people have no clue, why miss 30 minutes of a film ? they are idiots

  • Steve

    They’re not idiots, they just have different priorities. Some people just want a night out together, the film is secondary. Factor in waiting for the babysitter, traffic, parking, snacks, bathroom… A lot of opportunities to get held up. And offering the casual moviegoer tickets to a later show is worthless. You can’t extend your evening an extra 2 hours because traffic held you up 5 minutes. You want guaranteed no interruptions? VOD is your best bet. Otherwise you just have to deal with the fact most people just want a night out.

  • If the actual start time for the movies themselves were posted, I believe that it would actually make things worse, because a lot of the people I deal with that regularly come in a little later than the scheduled time actually ballpark it to 10-15 minutes, which is usually less than the previews (which are closer to 20 lately), so more often than not, they’re actually there on time. I’m afraid that if they paid attention enough to when the film ACTUALLY started, they’d be coming in possibly when the movie itself was already going. The people that are going to be really late are still going to be really late anyway. They’re assholes like that. They also complain that they should get cut some sort of break for missing part of the movie (even though I advise them against even going past a certain point), and then they turn right around and dick around with concessions, etc., for another 10 minutes. So yes, the previews are long, and while you might not need it, SOME people seem to have a more difficult time getting their shit together.

    Speaking of customers just not giving a shit, I had one today with a couple of kids come in for “Wreck-It Ralph”. After seeing that the show they came in for, which had started 10 minutes ago, was in 3-D and cost more, she asked when the next 2D one started. It wasn’t starting for another two hours, because IT had started a half hour before the 3D one. This was apparently too late, as they had plans later, so the lady bought 4 tickets for the “Wreck-It Ralph” that had started FORTY minutes ago. Yes, to avoid paying more for 3D tickets, she essentially wasted the same amount of money by skipping the first 25 minutes or so of the film itself. This is how customers think.

    I completely agree with telling people to fuck off after a certain point, because for them it becomes more of a waste of money than anything, but you can’t believe the fucking headaches there would be from people, and we really don’t have the resources to deal with that. The Alamo Drafthouse sounds like a swell place and all, and it’s great that THEY can take certain measures and get away with trying and doing different things, but for your run-of-the-mill chain theater, a lot of their ideas are pretty unrealistic and impractical to try to execute with what we have.

  • Tum Tum Tyranus

    Fuck no, they shouldn’t. I love this rule. And as a dedicated theater-hopper, this will dissuade the shitty theater-hoppers from coming in late. Fucking amateurs. Always have the times down and plan that shit out so you don’t miss any of the film. Otherwise, to quote Christian Bale from T4, “THEN WHAT IS THE POINT!”

  • Tum Tum Tyranus

    To clarify when I say dissuade, I mean that these shitty theater-hoppers(who come in late, sometimes half-way through a film) will be scared of other moviegoers ratting them out.

  • UKMark

    Good for this Theatre, wish we had one like this near me, I might actually go back to see a film at the cinema. Have a look at what us Brits came up with, although not much came of it after the initial release.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/12/the_moviegoers_code_of_conduct.html

  • Kasper

    I think people should be allowed to still arrive during the whole commercials and trailers part. Once the theater opens and people go in, that’s when I usually start buying my popcorn and such, because then there’s no (or less of a) queue. But then again here in Denmark we have assigned seating, I’m not sure that would be as a good plan in USA where there might be a battle for the best seats.

  • Stinker

    For all the humans who don´t want to know how to read the clock this is a bad piece of news. For the rest.

    Hip Hip Hurrayyyyyy

  • Spooksta

    NO.. Annoys the fuck out of me cos they always sit in front of me, ALWAYS!!

  • @12

    I don’t think they would rat them out. I mean, a lot of the time customers don’t come to us when there’s a LEGIT problem, so I don’t expect that they’d go out of their way to narc anyone out for coming in late, because after all, THEY showed up on time because they DON’T want to miss any of their movie. Again, people that show up really late are a nuisance, and it gets ME all bent out of shape when I have to deal with them and can’t talk any sense into them, but if they go into their film and get situated quietly, they’re no more a distraction than someone getting up to use the restroom, and if someone’s going to complain about someone just walking in or out, they’re probably more of an asshole than the person coming in a half hour late.

  • ovenball

    I wonder if online ticketing, print at home ticketing, and other online coupon offers through Groupon, etc. are helping to foster the notion that you simply don’t have to show up a little early to the theatre to get a ticket, get concessions, and get a good seat.

    With these options available, are more people just pushing it to the last possible second?

  • Tum Tum Tyranus

    @17 I don’t think most people would rat them out either. But I still think there would be enough paranoia to dissuade them from sneaking in late. They wouldn’t risk it.

    “..and if someone’s going to complain about someone just walking in or out, they’re probably more of an asshole than the person coming in a half hour late.”

    That doesn’t make any sense to me.

  • Gerry

    I find latecomers a pain if they walk in front of me to their seats but I still don’t mind as much as cellphone use because they might’ve been delayed.

    I don’t agree with the Alamo policy for this reason. A bit of empathy never goes amiss.

    I hate commercials but love trailers.

    At the moment blockbusters with a guaranteed audience like Harry Potter seem to have around half an hour of commercials and trailers after the listed time, blockbusters with less established appeal have less, and limited release small films have practically no commercials. Result, I missed around 8 minutes of The Hurt Locker. (I’m not looking forward to sitting through 30 minutes of mainly crap before the 3 hour Hobbit film).

    Posting movie start times would be helpful to me so I could try and time my entry to catch the trailers only.

    The absolute worst are funny spoof adverts of famous films by a UK mobile phone provider which are shown just before the film. They’re generally funny the first time but unbelievably irritating the third, fourth, tenth time. I’ll take latecomers over these any day.

  • James

    The majority of these posts don’t factor in the fact that statistically there will always be a 2 or 3% chance that you’ll be late regardless, for good or bad. Get a theatre full of 300 people in and a handful will always be late. A baseball game in town the same night can make the best effort go awry. They aren’t “all” assholes, losers etc.

  • kyri

    in England …there are a few good theatres like the waterloo IMAX that access is not permitted after the movie starts, you are allowed however to enter during the adverts!!

    I don’t understand why they allow that.

    of-course the price there is a billion £. per ticket, as opposed to your average English theatre that is just £4.

    Totally worth it.

  • @19

    I meant that if people are too distracted by people just doing normal things they’re going to do, like get up on occasion to go hit the restroom or something, which is no different than someone just quietly coming in and taking a seat, then maybe the movie theater isn’t the place they should be. Someone coming in late can do so in a discrete manner and not be a problem, but the people that just like to complain about everything and everyone could be the real disruption.

  • Tum Tum Tyranus

    Ah, okay. I gotcha.

  • UKMark

    @Kyri..The Bfi Imax (as it’s called) is around $23-24 Canadian dollars. £4 is for daytime viewings at SOME cinemas, but most are around $12-15 Canadian Dollars. We have a few specialist cinemas, like the Electric Cinema in Portabello Road London, which is great in the fact that they have a Chill area actually in the theatre, and single leather armchairs with foot stalls, but the down side is the bar is also in the theatre and you can sit at it whilst watching the film, they serve pitchers of beer and after 15-20 of people drinking (of which nearly everyone does)everyone has to take a piss, and as the seating is arranged without aisles everyone takes the short cut to the bathroom! annoying to say the least, and this was voted one of the best cinemas in GB.

  • kyri

    I love going to the Imax but, they only show a very limited variety of films.. so I am usually forced to go to a dodgy theatre at Peckham.. I just can’t describe how bad it is, the screen is tiny, the seats are broken, it’s filled with homeless junkies. The hookers are ugly, it’s a joke..

  • Liney

    Looking at the comments above, not everyone agrees with me, but every time I hear about this Alamo place, I want to change countries and move nearby.

    A cinema where they actually seem to want people to be able to watch the film they’re paying to see…what’s not to like?!

  • Matt Gamble’s theater here in Minneapolis does not allow entry after the movie has been playing for five minutes. If you’re late, your tickets are refunded but you are not allowed into the theater.

  • Gerry

    @kyri. I live in greater London and have a nice local multiplex with some imax screens. The prices average at £10, with an £8.50 day rate for adults (over 18 non student) 4 days a week, with hefty add-ons for 3D and imax films.

    The seats in the imax screens are arranged on a very gently sloping floor so latecomers block the screen in a big way. If this is the same in the BFI imax their policy makes sense.

    The seats for the normal screens are arranged on a steep hill type floor so latecomers don’t block your view at all unless they walk along your row.

  • I gotta say, I go to the BFI IMAX all the time with tickets ranging from £8-£10, true I am a student but actually considering most central London cinemas, that’s damn good value for money.

  • Luisa Blanco

    Disfruta de películas con la mejor calidad con Pelis Gratis. Te traemos esta plataforma para que puedas ver tus películas favoritas desde la comodidad de tu computador o TV, sin tener que invertir dinero ya que es totalmente gratis. Te ofrecemos lo más actual del cine, variedad de opciones subtituladas o en el audio que desees. https://pelisgratis.tv

  • Disfruta de películas con la mejor calidad con Pelis Gratis. Te traemos
    esta plataforma para que puedas ver tus películas favoritas desde la
    comodidad de tu computador o TV, sin tener que invertir dinero ya que es
    totalmente gratis. Te ofrecemos lo más actual del cine, variedad de
    opciones subtituladas o en el audio que desees https://peliculas24.me

  • Suzanna

    because it’s not quite as annoying for others if you return already knowing where your seat is. It sounds good in theory, but it does potentially force moviegoers to sit through all of the trailers of movies123, and it will also force theatre staff to turn away paying customers.

    https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/films/3870311-Can-t-remember-name-of-this-2017ish-horror?watched=1&msgid=95321632#95321632

  • sergio ramirez
  • Johanna Rossy Aquino

    I think latecomers feel far away “considerably” so as not to disturb earlycomers who want to enjoy the movie.

  • Johanna Rossy Aquino

    I think no! because they interrupt the movie, it takes away your concentration.

  • William

    Honestly it is not a biggie. I mean, people is already incentivized not to every leave their homes and “watch Netflix and Chill”, if we actually start limiting the options for people (in my opinion, arbitrarily) then movie theaters will die. And honestly a little part about watching movies that is really enjoyable is to see other people reacting to it. As in, when the last avengers movie was released, people were acting pretty damn fascinating in the theater.