Numerous fans have been sharing pics of their Wicked screenings online, but some cinema chains aren’t happy about phone use during showings.
In the US on Monday, Wicked earned $16m, the biggest domestic box office Monday ever for November. Given this year’s context of ‘survive until ’25’, cinema operators will gladly take that, especially since last month’s big box office hopeful, Joker: Folie A Deux, failed to pull in anywhere near the numbers hoped for.
But there do appear to be clear limits as to what some cinema chains will accept in the form of viewer behaviour. Even if those additional patrons are helping to keep the lights on until the post-strike pipeline jam eases up and 2025 hopefully brings a more regular supply of films that bring audiences flocking back in droves.
One such point for debate is the use of phones in Wicked screenings.
Bearing in mind that the film is adapted from a Broadway stage adaptation, a medium that has also had to reckon with its own bouts of poor audience conduct, it seems that plenty of Wicked patrons have been whipping out their phones to take pictures of the screen and then sharing those images online.
Read more: Wicked review | A spellbinding musical adaptation
Lots of film fans (and some cinema operators) have taken to social media to criticise this practice, with The Hollywood Reporter collating lots of their responses. Alamo Drafthouse (the US chain purchased by Sony last year) is one such operator, bluntly stating ‘don’t do that’ online, while also revealing to the outlet that they try to provide images to influencers before showings so such disturbances mid-viewing are unnecessary.
This is where we are. Giving images to influencers to stop them them disturbing screenings of the actual film.
Ahead of the film’s release, AMC – another US chain – issued a statement asking patrons ‘to not only avoid phone use but also not sing along with a screening’. That’s a different tack from Dwayne Johnson’s recent urging for Moana 2 fans to belt out their favourite numbers from the Disney film, with the actor saying, “Sing! You’ve paid your hard earned money for a ticket, and you’ve gone into a musical, and you’re into it,” to BBC News. “Especially if you love music, that’s the fun part.”
Fun for who? The singer perhaps, but perhaps less so the other audience members. It’s good to see plenty of cinema operators publicly challenging this behaviour but there are also some very high-profile chains who have remained conspicuously silent. Have you witnessed any poor cinema etiquette in your viewing of Wicked? Let us know in the comments below. And our cinema behaviour survey is still running here…
