Do Movies Open On Thursdays Now?

2 movies I'm interested in, The Martian and Sicario, both have their release dates pegged as October 2, or the normal Friday opening. Yet both films have multiple showings tonight, and not even just midnight showings (not midnight at all, actually). I don't go to the movies a lot, but has it become normal for movies to release Thursday night? If so, why are they advertised as having Friday releases? Is this just film distributors capitalizing on midnight movie fandom... Except making it easier on the theaters by doing it during regular theater hours?

Yep, started out as midnights but every teenage girl in the country went to midnights for Twilight, Hunger Games etc. and were useless the next day in school so they adjusted it to 7 and 10 PM.

Midnight Inception in I-Max was a great experience but that's gone the way of the dodo.

Going to see Sicario tonight, friend wants to see it as well but doesn't have time this week so I'm going with my Dad, who I gave the option to see either the Martian or Sicario and he picked Sicario. I'm sure Sicario is the better movie but what's wrong with the Ridley Scott pseudo Interstellar sequel? *shrug* Really need a website that's just devoted to finding people to watch movies with.

Black Mass and Pawn Sacrifice are good.

@fredchuckdave: Hey man, I have a day job. I can't be dysfunctional the next day just because I was up till 2am swooning at Fifty Shades.

It's been normal the last couple years for big movies. It sprung out of midnight releases. Someone had the bright idea to push back the first showing to 8 PM so more could go see it. They still say they open on Friday.

Weird that Sicario is getting these. That doesn't seem like an especially big release.

Just like midnight mass, so long as it's dark out I guess it counts as the next day.

Just wanted to chime in saying that I saw sicario the other day and all the buzz around the movie is well deserved, it's aa really great way to spend a couple of hours.

Forgot to say that at least in Australia (where we get Thursday releases) there's quite a few movies that show screenings on Wednesday nights regularly and even more movies than usual have a couple advanced screenings in the weeks prior to actual release

The only midnight showings needed are cult films.

But the answer to all your questions is yes.

@fredchuckdave:

I thought the Dark Knight Rises shooting was the reason they moved the "midnight" showings up to earlier in the evening?

Also, I saw Inception in I-Max at midnight too and that was the most incredible movie experience I've ever had.

@e30bmw: That might be part of it as well but I mean crazies gon' be crazy (not to be offensive to any aspiring mass murderers out there), don't think the timing really matters much; that's much more a blot on TDK Rises (which lost at least $100 million at the domestic box office because of it) than it is on midnights as a whole.

Man, I was going to see Sicario tonight but I ended up watching an 8 hour Destiny raid.

Yeah, movies have been released wide Thursday nights for several years now (Depending upon your location). Sicario has been in limited release for a week now (I saw it last Thursday and this past Tuesday - yeah it's that good). Go see that movie. It's a great piece on who's complicit in the drug trade utilizing a contemporary setting. A sequel is already in the works - if Benicio Del Toro doesn't get a nod from the Emmys on this it's a sad day for film.

I also saw Sicario last week while it was in limited release but I feel like I've had the opposite experience of so many other people with that movie. I found it pretty disappointing, to be honest. Without going too deep into it, there were some really good, tense scenes and the performances were great, but I left really unsatisfied by various things.

I saw Saw 3D on thursday night and that was in 2010.

Don't ask.

Just went to see The Martian. That movie was really really good. Way funnier then I thought it was going to be. Also *spoilers* Sean Bean finally got to live through a movie!

Yeah and soon it'll be Tuesday along with all forms of entertainment.

I think it depends it on the theater, but the one in my area has started showing new movies on Thursdays at like 7-8 PM. It's actually really nice because most people aren't free on Thursday nights so the theater is mostly empty.

@redyoshi: Unsatisfied in what way? I mean, the whole point of the film is to depict the violence as it is without elevating its importance - you're mean to view it as savagery. It's not trying to glorify it, it's being used as a tool to show you just how bad the drug war has gotten. And if you were looking for closure you won't find it, there has never been closure on the drug war since its inception. That's the point.

@kane_233: I think the movie is still totally worth watching which is why I didn't want to go too deep into what I didn't like and potentially spoil something.

@kane_233: I'll send you a PM because I don't wanna get too off the rails for the purposes of this thread. As it is, for anyone on the fence, definitely check it out if you're interested at least for the actors involved. Benicio del Toro in particular was fantastic, I agree.

@redyoshi: