I have been timing movie previews since August 2022. I was posting the data weekly on Twitter but I stopped using Twitter when the sale to Elon was finalized.

My Qualifications

I have a monthly pass that allows me to go up to 4 times a week. I also worked at a theater for 4 years, with part of that time being as a manager and projectionist. I have selected and put ad rolls on the film myself.

I go every Sunday morning. I started timing ads and previews before the movie started and logging them in a chart, but I am not a data analyst. I am just an annoyed theater patron.

Movie Previews and Ad Roll Lengths

Note: Most of my data is from seeing movies at AMC. I can’t guarantee every theater will be this way but theaters that use digital film distribution instead of physical film should be similar.

Timing start at the scheduled showtime and start the moment the last ad stops and the film credits start.

If you go to AMC, the Nicole Kidman ad is always the last one. I stop counting as soon as she says “AMC Theaters, we make movies better.”

• You can safely go to the theater 15 minutes late every single time.
• Ads ranged from 17 min to 31 min.
• Once, the movie started exactly on time with no ads at all, but that was two years after I started timing previews. This is an outlier.
• Newer movies have longer ads. Movies in the larger rooms have longer ads. IMAX, Dolby, Laser, Prime, and 3D/movies 4D have longer ads. For these movies, ads tend to run approximately 24-27 min.
• The longer the movie has been out the shorter the ad roll length.
• The studio/distributor behind the movie also matters. Indies and smaller budgets have less ads, but big studios like Disney and Sony have more. Studios like Searchlight and Focus can be deceptive as they are owned by bigger companies but they still aren’t as bad as said larger conglomerates.

TLDR: I tracked movie ad times for years and recommend showing up 15 minutes late.

(°▽°)/

I would like, please and thank you!

I use Lemmy primarily. I try not to use Reddit, Meta, TikTok or anything else as much as I can if there is a Fediverse option.

Unfortunately, there are a few things you have to use that stuff for:

• Facebook Marketplace has completely replaced Craigslist in my area.

• Neighborhood apps like NextDoor, even if there are other options, doesn’t matter if your neighbors don’t use it.

• Reddit for specific niche forums. If the community is active on Lemmy, I post questions here first but in some case I need an answer for something that doesn’t exist in the Fediverse yet.

YouTube recommendations are just as bad. I HATE YouTube. I wish more people used other platforms.

I was promised dogs.

Hank hasn’t had enough treats today.

I loved this game too! I haven’t finished it yet. I get distracted sometimes but I really do love it. It’s so unique but also kept the right tropes in the genre. Plus it’s cute.

After reading it, I think she means that some of this wouldn’t have happened if many Christians weren’t so hostile to LGBT+ people.

I might have the wrong attribution, but I think it was Regan who said “Latino voters are Republicans who don’t know it yet.”

Maybe? I can watch tv while I fold laundry or exercise. I can’t play games and fold laundry at the same time.

No, but i neglect important things to play anyway.

Again? Didn’t they just raise the price in September?

I cancelled the moment they put ads in the plan I had been paying for. Don’t miss it for a second. Not even prime shipping.

If you have dogs that get along, the dog door would be awesome. I bet the dogs would love it. If I was your neighbor, it would make me very happy to see your dog visit me.

I always thought you would put the posts inward to prevent climbing, but another neighbor installed a fence that was built like you said. I have no idea!

Maybe it doesn’t matter?

Ah yeah that’s rough. He rides a loud motorcycle to work, but I can tolerate it twice a day, especially since it’s at the same time each day.

I’m lucky to have a good one so close.

I said that to him! You read my mind.

He did ask first. We came up with the idea together. I didn’t expect how happy it would make him and his wife. That’s why I wanted to share. ^_

Yes! He was so happy when he could pet the dogs, which is why I wanted to share the picture.

You are exactly right. I’m not too worried about them doing that, but he wanted to make sure my dogs didn’t escape, just in case.

Yeah. I gave him old fence planks to use for building the hatch. He and his wife are a sweet older couple who love dogs. It’s kinda like living next to my dad or my uncle.