The Dark Knight - 6 Tubs

Normally I would limit the filthiness of a theater auditorium to 5 tubs, but with the crowds that The Dark Knight are drawing, I must bump it up there with the biggest landfill you can find.

I loved the movie; it was better than Batman Begins, and yes, Heath Ledger does deserve an Oscar for his role as the Joker. It did push the envelope for destruction for destruction's sake, but compared to what they turn out now for 'horror movies', Batman was realistic. I liked Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne, and I couldn't hate the Joker and kind of regret that Ledger can't bring him back in a future movie...but to be honest, what I experienced from the movie wasn't so much the film itself, but the evil hoards who flocked to see it and trashed my theater in the process. After all, this blog is about how theater patrons leave the theater, not about the movies themselves.

I won't go into gruesome detail about how many tubs of popcorn, cups of soda, chicken bones, watermelon rinds, and condoms were left in the theater. It was terrible and we filled four dumpters in one day on the refuse from this movie. What I want to talk about is the movie fans.

A few months ago I would have been able to find $2-5 under the seats at the end of the movie. The most I've found in one day was $13 in quarters after "Step Up To The Streets 2". But since gas prices have risen and the way that it has affected everything else, the theater business is starting to feel the affects too. You, as a customer might see an increase in ticket or concession prices. As an usher, I've found that most theater goers are paying for their entertainment with plastic. Granted, many might be using a debit card to pay for their movies and concessions, but some are charging the cost and making payments month after month. And although The Dark Knight was sold out almost every show, I was unable to come up with more than $.57 for the entire weekend.

Let me make my point a little better. The Dark Knight did over $150Million on opening weekend. People are still coming to the movies when there is something worth watching (which isn't often). And people are still buying the big tub of popcorn, the large sodas, and they're still allowing the concessionists to upsell them candy and ice cream; but they're paying for it with credit cards. People are feeling the crunch, but they're not quite ready to alter their lifestyles...at least until they've maxed out their credit cards.

If I were a theater owner, and if I believed that oil prices were going to continue to climb and that it is only a matter of time before people started cutting back on unnecessary things like movies and dining out, then I would be worried about the upcoming holiday season when the second round of 'block-busters' are due out. The Dark Knight is an anomaly as far as movies in 2008. The money the theater is going to make on this movie is rapidly dwindling, so I really hope Hollywood has something else big coming up soon or you're going to see some theater sell-offs or start seeing theaters keep movies longer and not show every new release that comes their way.

I know none of this gives you an idea of what The Dark Knight is like; just go see the movie - it's worth the money. But if the only way you can afford to see the movie is to use your credit card, cut that thing up and wait for it to come to TV in three or four years. Maybe by then we'll have drilled and refined some oil and you won't have to mortgage your house to take the family out to a movie.