evil Controversy arose over audience members taking photos during screenings, leading some fans to consider the behavior a breach of etiquette.
throughout the process evil’Amid a record opening weekend at the box office, fans of the Broadway musical adaptation shared images of the screen on social media, fueled in part by a viral X (formerly Twitter) post on an Ariana Grande fan account that read : “Show your Wicked Part 1 photos.” While the post led to many users sharing photos of themselves in action, many of the responses were along the lines of “kick these people out of the theater.”
“Of course, in a dark theater, any cell phone is distracting, even the person trying to hide it,” said Jason E. Squire, professor emeritus at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and podcast host. Jason E. Squire) film industry,Tell hollywood reporter. “This is intolerable behavior and should not be allowed in theaters showing any film.”
Alamo Drafthouse, a premium theater chain known for encouraging patrons to notify staff of any disruptive behavior or phone usage, responded to the viral photo captioned post, “Or, don’t do it,” the chain stressed. THR They work with influencers to help raise awareness of the screenings, but any opportunity to share images of the theater experience will be available before the movie starts.
Cynthia Erivo (left) and Ariana Grande evil.
Giles Kate/Universal Pictures
“We will never use our phones again once the movie starts,” said Chaya Rosenthal, chief marketing officer at Alamo Drafthouse. “There are a lot of influencers who want to self-express and share their experiences with the social community. So we embrace that but do it in a very different way and we want people to shoot these specifically before the film starts. Photos and enjoy the experience in our lobby.
In the story, Grande plays Glinda and Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba The Wizard of Oz’role before Dorothy’s arrival, evil The film got off to a magical start at the box office, making history as the best opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation. Previously, summer 2024 box office sales were down 10% from the previous year, suggesting that the impact of the recent Hollywood strike was not as severe as imagined. That said, it’s clear that the industry could benefit from the support of a younger, social media-savvy audience.
Some exhibitors choose not to rely on short-lived trends dominated by social media. The arthouse theater in Long Beach, Calif., has shifted to showing second-run films about six months after the pandemic ends, though it will still be showing new releases for the rest of the year. It’s worth noting that the venue has no plans to showcase evil or Gladiator IIinstead of choosing to play secret meeting, Maria and Queer in the coming weeks.
“For every movie, the manager would do an old-fashioned walk-through from the front to the back of the screen, just to combat whether the behavior was present or not,” said Kerstin Kansteiner, president of the nonprofit theater’s board of directors. explain. “We’ve seen it a few times, but it’s pretty rare.”
Universal did not respond to a request for comment on this topic, but Rosenthal said the studio was generally consistent with Alamo’s policy of firmly blocking cell phone use. It’s true that studios have begun adopting platforms like TikTok to promote their films, but these companies want to film any footage in the lobby before or after the screening.
Even the concept of singing along to a musical has proven polarizing. ahead of evil’After the film’s release, AMC Theaters issued a statement asking theatergoers not only to avoid using cell phones but also not to sing along during screenings, and some theater chains, including Alamo Drafthouse, have held separate sing-along events to satisfy enthusiastic audiences.
John Bucher, executive director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, has served as story consultant on projects distributed by Paramount, HBO and A24.
“For too long, rudeness and civility have slowly been at the bottom of our list of values,” Bucher said. “Encouraging people to take photos of their screens while watching movies speaks volumes to those around us. It shows that the invisible community that’s not around me is more important than the community that is around me.
