What time you should actually arrive at cinema to avoid adverts
The time on your ticket is 7pm, but you already know it’s not going to start then.
So, what time do you get to the cinema?
If you’re arriving at 7.10pm, you’re almost certainly safe, but any later and you may cut it fine.
Here, we’ve gathered information from the UK’s major cinema chains and spoken to experts about how long you can expect adverts and trailers to run until the main event actually begins.
Cineworld
According to the Cineworld website, ads and trailers “normally last between 30-45 minutes before the actual film begins”.
The cinema also asks customers to collect tickets at least 20 minutes before the listed time “to make the most of their visit”.
Odeon
There appears to be a shorter wait at Odeon, which claims advert and trailer length is “typically 15-25 minutes” – but this varies with each performance and can be “considerably less”.
“We always recommend to avoid disappointment you arrive with enough time to enter the screen at the scheduled performance start time,” the website says.
Everyman
There’s a wider range at Everyman, which says it plays 25 minutes’ worth of adverts and trailers.
But beware – “the length of ads and trailers varies for special events and it can be between 15 and 40 minutes, subject to type of event”.
Pic: PA
Showcase
There isn’t any specific information on the website and we got no response when we reached out to them, but Showcase did respond to a customer on social media on this very question.
In a May 2022 tweet, the cinema said: “The advertised time is when the adverts/ trailers start and are approximately 20-25 minutes long before each show.”
Vue
Vue offers a more precise window: “Please be aware that most films have around 20 to 25 minutes of ads and trailers before the feature starts.”
Its only recommendation is to be in your seat at the time stated so you “don’t take any chances in missing the start of your film”.
‘In general, it’s 24 minutes’
Karen Stacey, the chief executive of Digital Cinema Media, which supplies advertisement for the likes of Odeon, Vue and Cineworld, told Sky News the wait is typically 24 minutes – 12 minutes for ads, and 12 for trailers.
his remains true whatever the film and whatever the time of day, with about 95% of DCM’s schedules “exactly the same”.
“It’s very formulaic, that’s what consumers are used to,” she said. “By making it consistent in length, people are always happy to come and join in.”
She said 24 minutes gives schedulers enough time to prepare the film and allow a more staggered entry for the audience – while also bringing in revenue.
Any longer than half an hour, though, is “rare”.
“Cinemas want to have as many films in as possible and they want to be mindful they don’t finish too late in the evening,” Ms Stacey said.
“My experience working with them is they are quite strict.”
Pic: iStock
Are there rules over the length?
As the above suggests, there aren’t any set rules or procedures governing cinema advertising length.
Kathryn Jacob, chief executive of cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean, said the length was determined by the cinema.
“Some cinemas take only one ad, like the BFI IMAX, and the maximum length is determined by the cinemas themselves,” she told Sky News.
“Factors determining the length depend on demand from advertisers and the films that a cinema might want to showcase to the audience that’s at the screening via trailers.”
Cinema policy is the key decider and she said research has shown audiences find advertising in cinema “part of the entertainment”.
Do viewers like the adverts and trailers?
Ms Jacob may have a point.
According to research published by DCM, advertising in cinemas is more effective than in any other media.
For a 60-second advert in the cinema, viewers will watch 48 seconds, which is a far higher proportion than TV or social media.
It is also highly trusted, with DCM citing a survey by IPA Touchpoints claiming nearly 100% of respondents say they trust what they see in the cinema – for comparison, 75% trust TV adverts.
Avid cinema-goer Bill Boswell, who pays £18 a month for an unlimited pass at Cineworld on the Isle of Wight, said he was happy to wait.
“I know that these adverts help pay for the cinema to run,” he told Sky News. “The cinema is my place to escape, so it’s good for my mental health and I would not want to lose it.
“If I watch at home, I can sometimes reach for my mobile phone, but a film on the big screen would get my 100% attention, so I just accept the pre-show adverts.”
Read more from Sky News:
Would you want to know if you’re likely to get cancer?
Cineworld plots blockbuster sale of British cinema operations
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
But what are the drawbacks?
The main thing Mr Boswell considers is his car, as his nearest Cineworld offers three hours of free parking.
“I would sometimes plan on 30 minutes of trailers and work back so I can fit the free parking in, as the cinema costs enough already,” he said.
“If the film is more than two and a half hours, I park outside town and walk to the cinema.”
Consumer expert Martin Lewis raised parking tickets as one of the issues in a 2019 tweet, in which he said he waited 33 minutes for a film to start.
Responding to one user, he said greater clarity would help customers to save on parking tickets and babysitting, while giving “legitimate expectation”.
“And there’s no rigorous research that prices [cinema tickets] would go up – they’re often set by market demand,” he added.
Are there alternatives?
If you want to avoid the pre-show altogether, your best bet might be independent or community cinemas.
Draycott Community Cinema, for example, is the only cinema in the Somerset village and is run by volunteers.
Pic: Draycott Community Cinema
Committee member Chloe Haywood told Sky News they are always debating how long to make their pre-show.
They try to keep it to two short trailers, often without any adverts – though they are planning to find a sponsor later this year.
“We do find that it sets the audience up for the screening,” she said, referring to their brief pre-show.
“We don’t have trailers for long. They’re to advertise the next two films, any local news that might be of interest, and then standard ‘switch off your phones’ type info.”
Stars including Beyonce, Eva Longoria and Jamie Lee Curtis have pledged funds to support families affected by the fires in Los Angeles – along with Paris Hilton, who is among those who have lost their homes.
The blazes which erupted in the Pacific Palisades and other areas of the county last week have destroyed thousands of properties and killed at least 24 people.
US reality star and businesswoman Hilton has launched an emergency fund to support families who have been displaced, and kickstarted it with a personal donation of $100,000 dollars (£82,000).
The 43-year-old, who watched her home in Malibu “burn to the ground” as the fires were covered on TV, has also been spending time with animal organisations. She announced on social media that she is fostering a dog whose owners lost their home.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Paris Hilton posts video of destroyed home
“While I’ve lost my Malibu home, my thoughts are with the countless families who have lost so much more – their homes, cherished keepsakes, the communities they loved, and their sense of stability,” Hilton said in a statement on social media.
Beyonce contributed $2.5m to a newly launched LA Fire Relief Fund, created by her charitable foundation, BeyGOOD.
“The fund is earmarked to aid families in the Altadena/Pasadena area who lost their homes, and to churches and community centres to address the immediate needs of those affected by the wildfires,” the organisation said in a statement.
Pic: AP/Noah Berger
Beyonce’s mother Tina Knowles lost her bungalow in Malibu in the fires.
“It was my favourite place, my sanctuary, my sacred happy place,” she wrote on Instagram. “Now it is gone. God Bless all the brave men and women in our fire department who risked their lives in dangerous conditions.”
Other celebrities who have donated funds include Desperate Housewives star Longoria and her foundation, the Screen Actors Guild, the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, and Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her family – who have all pledged $1m (£819,000) each.
Prince Harry and Meghan are believed to have donated clothing, children’s items and other essential supplies, and were seen making a surprise visit to hand out food to evacuees in Pasadena.
Read more:
Oscar nominations and other events delayed or cancelled
The winds that fuelled fires are back – here’s what it could mean
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan supported residents in Pasadena
Actors Mel Gibson, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg are also among the Hollywood stars confirmed to have lost homes, along with talk show host Ricki Lake, and reality stars Spencer and Heidi Pratt.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ricki Lake shared on Instagram the moment flames got to her property in Malibu
The fires, which are burning around Los Angeles, come at the start of Hollywood’s awards season.
Organisers of the Oscars have postponed the nominations announcement twice, with the shortlists currently set to be revealed on 23 January, and the event’s annual luncheon ahead of the ceremony has been cancelled.
The show itself is still set to go ahead on 2 March. The Grammys, scheduled for 2 February, is also reportedly still set to go ahead.
Entertainment
Actors who sheltered in Ukraine’s Mariupol theatre bring story of bombing to the stage
The Donetsk theatre in the city of Mariupol was supposed to be a place of safety for hundreds of civilians sheltering during the first few weeks of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. A sign bearing the word “children” was marked on the ground outside, visible from the air.
On 16 March 2022, the building was bombed. Authorities at the time said about 300 people had died, although some estimates were higher.
The stories of survivors are now being recounted by actors who were among those sheltering in the theatre at the time. Mariupol Drama, a play which opens in the UK this week, features real video footage captured on their phones, and personal items saved from the rubble.
A warning that children were sheltering inside the theatre was visible from the skies. Pic: Maxar Technologies
Olena Bila and her partner Ihor Kytrysh, who have acted at the theatre since 2003, managed to escape the devastation with their son, Matvii.
“This is a story with a lot of memories from a previous life,” Olena tells Sky News from Ukraine, speaking through a translator. “We worked and lived in Mariupol and did what we loved. In a few days, we lost everything.”
The family also lost their home. Olena says she hopes the play shows that material possessions are not what’s important.
“We lost the material side of our lives. We want to show for everybody that all items around you, the material side of your life, doesn’t matter… it’s your mind, it’s your soul, it’s your heart [that does].”
The theatre was bombed in March 2022
The couple also hope the production will remind people, almost three years on from the start of Russia’s invasion, that the war is still ongoing.
“We are still at war,” Olena says. “It’s our stories, real stories. Not Hollywood fiction, but a story of real people in Ukraine.
“It’s very hard to see that this war is still continuing. We still have no room for our plans for the future.”
After the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the theatre, in the city’s Tsentralnyi district, became a hub for the distribution of medicine, food and water, and a designated gathering point for people hoping to be evacuated from Mariupol via humanitarian corridors.
Personal items saved from the theatre are used on stage in the play. Pic: Tiberi Shiutiv
The building was attacked after weeks of Russian fire on Mariupol.
Vira Lebedynska, the theatre’s head of music and drama, is also one of the performers in Mariupol Drama. When the bombs hit, she was sheltering in an underground room used for music recording which remained mostly untouched, she says.
It saved her.
Russia denied bombing the building deliberately. Following their own investigation, Amnesty International described the attack as a war crime.
British actor David MacCreedy heard about Mariupol Drama and met the actors during an aid trip to Ukraine and says he was struck “by just how powerful it was”. He has been instrumental in bringing the story to the UK.
“It needed to be seen here,” he says.
The play’s actors want to show that despite the destruction of the building, Mariupol’s theatre is still alive.
“Our theatre is fighting,” says Olena.”It is restored not to cry, but to fight.”
Mariupol Drama is on at the Home performing arts centre in Manchester from today until Saturday.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway