Iron Man is going to up his release date… by about 4 hours. So if you want to get the jump on the other drooling fanboys, here is your chance.
Paramount is planning to open its highly anticipated Iron Man at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, instead of one minute past midnight as originally announced. The studio is apparently hoping that word-of-mouth will help boost box-office business for the weekend
It is interesting that this tactic would really only allow for one (maybe two with staggered start times) extra viewing before the weekend yet they are playing the gamble that the dedicated rabid fans who line up for this early showing will talk it up hard on Friday to boost attendance for the weekend.
Midnight showings were always a solid tactic (and will still continue with Iron Man) as a way of getting just a couple extra viewings available for the opening weekend. But is it even necessary to try and drive MORE people to see Iron Man that weekend? Technically those ‘just before’ tallies wont count towards the weekend total. Will it make up for it?
I have yet to hear anything bad at all about this movie, and it lands in a 3 way tie of anticipation for Indiana Jones and Batman Dark Knight for me.
You would think the positive buzz will be JUST as reinforced on Friday from the legions of midnight attenders as it would have from the just before midnight attenders.
