Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 11/16/18 (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I think there actually is a market for people willing to see big screen spectacles back in theaters, provided that a) they're being shown on quality screens that exceed what the average person has at home (and a tiny screen in a multiplex auditorium with an old 2K projector may not be a better overall experience than a nice UHD TV at 60" with a nice sound system at home), b) that the pricing is reasonable and c) that it's properly promoted.

Occasionally you can even get something that does well without all of those factors. The upcoming screenings of The Dark Knight aren't really being promoted, but IMAX sold out the first week's showings in NYC, and at full price of $25.49 a ticket! And I'm not surprised. The Dark Knight wasn't really meant to be watched on TV; it was meant to be viewed on the largest screens in the world, and there are plenty of people who are happy to take that ride again.

Even though Harry Potter wasn't shot specifically with IMAX cameras, I think there will always be an audience for those films if they're properly promoted and priced in such a way that recognizes that the discs have been in the $5 bin for years. Which seems to be exactly what Cinemark is doing. If you do go, please let us know what attendance is like - I'm curious if they'll be as big of a draw as I suspect they could be.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If you do go, please let us know what attendance is like - I'm curious if they'll be as big of a draw as I suspect they could be.

I should have a good idea by this weekend whether I will go or not. The price is right, but my issue is that I can only really go on weekends, and with a series like this, I really don't want to see only one or two films. I'd rather skip the whole thing than have to choose which parts of the continuing story to skip. So, whether I go or not is really dependent upon what the showtimes are like and whether it fits into the weekend.

Coincidentally enough, last year my arthouse had a couple random screenings of these films, so I can certainly talk about attendance for those. On my birthday last year, September 3, they screened Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 70mm, which isn't a thing that I was aware existed before they had it, but it was in fact a 70mm print. I saw that and I would estimate that it was about 2/3 full in the main auditorium, with the biggest screen (which is the only screen with 70mm capabilities.) In the past, 70mm screenings of other movies that were actually shot in 70mm like Lawrence of Arabia and 2001 were sold out there, but I wasn't surprised Fantastic Beasts did less, because it hadn't really been that long since its initial release (which at that point was only 10 months earlier.)

About six weeks later, my arthouse had a random screening of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which they said was a "20th Anniversary Harry Potter Party." This was somewhat accurate, since the first book was published in England in 1997, but it wasn't imported to America until 1998, and of course the first movie wasn't until 2001. This screening was also in the big auditorium, although it was digital only. That one was completely sold out (there are 376 seats.) There were a ton of kids at that one, including someone who brought a group as part of a kid's birthday party, and I think probably half the audience or more hadn't been born when the film originally came out. They had a costume contest and made a whole big event out of it. The most creative costume, I thought, was a girl who dressed up as Moaning Myrtle, including a cardboard toilet seat taped to her head which moved up or down, covering her face when it was down. Due to the success of this screening, I assumed that they would follow it with subsequent screenings of the other films, but they didn't.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I remember when the last HP book was set to be released that there were all sorts of different events at bookstores in Boston, where I was living at the time. Even places that didn't normally sell books got in on the fun.

One of the local art house/repertory theaters there, The Brattle Theater (actually in Cambridge) had the best plan - they were screening the first Harry Potter movie timed to end at exactly midnight. They partnered with a local bookstore, so that each ticket purchase also included the cost of the new book, and when I left the theater, they just handed me a copy of the book. Easy as could be. As I stepped outside the theater, I saw the most incredible sight. The Brattle is located in Harvard Square, which as the name suggests is near the college; there were a ton of bookstores in that neighborhood, and there were huge lines outside all of them. There wasn't a single bit of empty sidewalk space anywhere in that area. Meanwhile, I already had the book in hand with no waiting required. As I walked to the subway to head back home, more than one person in a line noticed my copy of the new book and asked if I could read it outloud while they were waiting. I politely declined, but it was a fun scene. I think I stayed up all night reading the book.

 

[Wayne_j]

There is a screening of Sorcerer's Stone near me this Saturday with a live orchestra playing the score. Unfortunately I can't go because I am scheduled to work. Next week is A New Hope and I have to work then also.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Our local orchestra did that with Sorcerer's Stone this past March, but it happened on the very day I was in Hollywood on a planned vacation to see a show out there. So I didn't go either. But I would welcome that sort of thing for the other films, for sure, if they do it.

 

[hanshotfirst1138]

I quite enjoyed the first film. Rowling was definitely a first-time screenwriter, and it had some flaws, but I had fun with it. As an HP fan, the prequel aspect is immensely fun fan service.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The showtimes for the Cinemark xD week are up, and they make no sense. There is no attempt being made to show the films in full chronological sequence. For example, the schedule for Tuesday, September 4 is Order of the Phoenix at 12:30, Half-Blood Prince at 3:45, Chamber of Secrets at 7:00 and Deathly Hallows 2 at 10:15.

Wednesday, September 5 is Half-Blood Prince at 12:30, Sorcerer's Stone at 3:45, Deathly Hallows Part 2 at 7:00 and Fantastic Beasts at 10:15.

I know that they couldn't get all of the movies shown in one day, obviously, but this is an extremely serialized story arc where the story builds from one to the next to the next. You should at least be showing them in the narrative order.

Absent that, I'm not even going to try to bother with this. I don't want to have to pick favorites to do again without the full story surrounding it. I'll just rewatch the whole series on Blu-ray in sequence.

Also, I said this a couple years ago when IMAX did their re-release. Rather than showing all of the films over a period of several days with a schedule that doesn't make sense, I think the best way to achieve a re-release of this series, with so many films involved, would be to do what Fox did with the Star Wars special editions in 1997 and re-release them in succession on a particular schedule. Like, say, January is Sorcerer's Stone month, then Chamber of Secrets in February and Prisoner of Azkaban in March and so on. It wouldn't have to be monthly necessarily if they wanted to speed it up, but it should be done on a schedule.

I'd love to see these movies in a big screen again under the right conditions, but that means a) having them shown in the correct order and b) it's more ideal to space them out a little bit than to show eight (or nine if you include Fantastic Beasts) films in a single week.

 

[Wayne_j]

At least here the IMAX screenings were in order. They showed Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire the first day and then Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows Pt 1 and Deathly Hallows Pt 2 the next.

 

[Jake Lipson]

 

[tempest21]

I've seen all of the Harry Potter movies and after some hem and hawing, I saw Fantastic Beasts. I have to admit that while I enjoyed the film, I thought it was Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein who stole every scene she was in, in the movie. Can;t wait to see the sequel.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The final trailer includes the named reveal of who Claudia Kim is playing, and she is significant to Harry Potter lore. If you don't want to know who she is, good luck avoiding the trailer in theaters until November:



I will say that I hope the inclusion of Claudia Kim's character is used as an actual significant story point, and not trotted out as an Easter egg gimmick in the way that the surprise returning character in Solo was earlier this year. It could go either way, depending on what JKR has in her head and how it's executed in the course of the film. We'll see.

Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Kim about playing that character, which I'm going to put under spoiler tags, but if you've seen the trailer and know who she is, then it's not:

Spoiler

https://ew.com/movies/2018/09/25/fantastic-beasts-claudia-kim-nagini/

 

[Jake Lipson]

Johnny Depp has given his first interview about playing Grindlewald to EW: https://ew.com/movies/2018/10/11/johnny-depp-grindelwald-interview/

 

[Jake Lipson]

Tickets are on sale now.

It looks like WB has taken a cue from Disney because the 7:00 showing at my theater on November 15 in their premium auditorium is called the "Fantastic Fandom Event." But it doesn't say what this showing will include to differentiate itself from a regular one. I would not be opposed to going to this, but I'd want to know more about what the extra things are.

The first regular screening in a non-premium auditorium is 7:30pm.

Surprisingly, it does not appear that they will be doing double features with the original, which I would have gone to for sure if they had.

Edit: I just looked closer and the Fantastic Fandom screening is on Tuesday, November 13, so that's what's "extra" - it's two days earlier. It doesn't appear to be significantly upcharged over the normal xD price, either, so I think I'm going to go ahead and do that.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I went to my theater to see Bad Times at the El Royale tonight, which was great by the way, and pre-bought my ticket for the Tuesday, November 13 show.

Since it was in the Cinemark XD auditorium, that meant reserved seating, so I got to see the chart. So far, including mine, they've sold a grand total of four tickets.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Comments from Erza Miller (Credence): https://ew.com/movies/2018/10/22/ezra-miller-fantastic-beasts/

 

[Wayne_j]

I just purchased my ticket for the Fandom Event on Tuesday November 13. This comes with a reduced price soda/popcorn combo and tickets cost the same as it usually would in that theater.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This comes with a reduced price soda/popcorn combo and tickets cost the same as it usually would in that theater.

Glad to know I won't be the only one here seeing it on Tuesday, so we can talk about it some after (within spoiler tags as appropriate of course.)

Where did you see about the popcorn/soda deal? I've heard nothing about that, although I also have my ticket for the same date/time. What theater chain are you going to? I wonder if that might be chain-specific. I'm going to my local Cinemark.

I would rather have a memorabilia item like a poster or something, since I almost never do concessions at movies. But that's still interesting to know.

Also, do you know how many tickets they've sold yet? Ours is in the reserved seating XD auditorium and the last I checked they've only sold five tickets.

 

[Wayne_j]

Where did you see about the popcorn/soda deal? I've heard nothing about that, although I also have my ticket for the same date/time. What theater chain are you going to? I wonder if that might be chain-specific. I'm going to my local Cinemark.

https://www.regmovies.com/promotions
"RCC members will get 1000 extra credits and a $5 concessions combo including a collectible cup & medium popcorn!"

I have no idea what Cinemark is doing. My Regal RPX screening with reserved seating is currently about a third to a half full.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The official Facebook page posted this photo and says it will be given out as a poster to attendees of the Fandom Event on November 13. So we are getting swag.

I just wish I liked the poster better. Not a huge fan of the floating heads approach. It's also an awful lot of green for one poster.

Meanwhile, my screening is up to a whopping seven tickets sold now.

 

[Jake Lipson]

WB is doing really, really early free screenings on November 3 if you live in the right city. Alas, I don't, but some of you might, so good luck...

https://wbtickets.com/main/blp/VENPR0ZhbnNGaXJzdA==