Auteurs want to have everything on their terms these days. They want their films to have movie-theater-only releases before showing up on streamers, but they’re also making the running times of these films increasingly longer. Then when movie theaters add intermissions at the request of their patrons (like many attempted for the 3.5 hour long Killers of the Flower Moon), film directors and distributors balk. “That wasn’t the vision!!” Something’s gotta give. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with various movie theaters who say that they and their movie-going customers are in favor of bringing back intermissions. Are you listening, Scorsese?
Paramount threatened fines over Killers of the Flower Moon: The art house cinema [The Lyric in Fort Collins, Colorado] … inserted an eight-minute break. It wasn’t long before a customer’s photo of an ad highlighting the intermission went viral and The Lyric received a call from Paramount, which is distributing the film, saying it had violated the booking contract and fines could be levied. “We didn’t know we had done anything wrong,” says Lyric manager Aaron Varnell, who recently added “chaos cultivator” to his title in a nod to challenging times.
Make it an event: In Long Beach, California, the Art Theatre — a single-screen theater built in 1925 — likewise hoped an intermission would lure more customers to see Killers of the Flower Moon on the big screen… “Our thinking was, we can really make this an event,” says Kerstin Kansteiner, who heads the board of the nonprofit theater. “It gives folks the opportunity to use the restroom, and it could also make for extra concession sales, which is literally how we pay our bills these days.” The idea was abandoned when Art’s film booker reached out to Paramount before the film opened and was told an intermission wasn’t allowed. “It was disappointing,” says Kansteiner. “We understand that directors have a vision and don’t want to take the viewer out of the film, but it’s problematic if you make a film that’s three hours and 26 minutes long.”
Movie theaters are struggling: Cinemas that survived the pandemic are still trying to find their footing during the streaming boom; as much as 15 percent of the moviegoing population hasn’t yet returned to theaters, according to data collected by Hollywood studios. This applies especially to older adults, the target audience for Killers of the Flower Moon and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which runs three hours. These longer films mean fewer showtimes, too, which compounds concerns for cinemas when it comes to ticket sales.
Moviegoers want intermissions: [Vue Cinemas head Tim] Richards engineered a test in which Vue offered its U.K. customers the choice to see Killers of the Flower Moon in one uninterrupted viewing or with a 15-minute intermission (in Europe they’re known as “intervals” or “comfort breaks”). “It is the first time we’ve had an interval in decades,” Richards says. “Right off the bat, 30 percent of our customers chose to watch the movie with an interval even if it meant staying longer. And 85 percent said they would absolutely come back and watch a movie with an interval.” Vue was also asked to cease the breaks, but no fines were issued.
James Cameron said no to intermissions for Avatar: Late last year, some theaters had reached out about including an intermission with 20th Century’s Avatar: The Way of Water (three hours and 12 minutes) and said they were told no per the wishes of James Cameron, according to exhibition sources. “Imagine being immersed in the world of Avatar and having a sudden break. It would be hard to get back into the movie,” says one Hollywood studio executive not affiliated with the film.
‘I really needed to pee’: There’s evidence to back up the theory that intermissions could boost grosses for all involved. The Lyric saw a bigger turnout than usual on the second weekend of Killers of the Flower Moon — before word got out there were no more breaks during the film. Adds Varnell, “People said after, ‘I just kept waiting for the intermission. I really needed to pee.’”
[From Yahoo! Entertainment]
Oh reader, that Avatar comment did me in. “You can’t break the immersive experience!” What, are they worried that moviegoers running to the bathroom will be shocked to see non-blue people again? Please. Inevitably I think the purse (not to mention the bladder) will win out. If more people say they’ll go to movies with guaranteed intermissions, directors will magically find a way to adapt. Scorsese being such a film historian, I would think the transition wouldn’t be that difficult. Intermissions harken back to classic Hollywood. It’s retro!
Growing up in San Francisco I regularly went to the Castro Theatre to see vintage cinema. Not only did I survive, I thrived with each and every intermission. Even today I go to see rereleases of old films. During the intermission I relieve myself in the little girls room and return to the concession stand to purchase another tub of popcorn. The intermission system works! Embrace the wave, filmmakers. Or, you know, listen to Alexander Payne and learn to tighten your stories.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, Brock Wegner on Unspash and Eugene Lisyuk on Pexels
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