Buying a movie ticket is something almost everyone has experienced. You check to see what movies are playing in the theater, pick the one you’d like to see, pick a time that’s best to go and watch it, and sometimes pick where you’re going to sit while viewing the movie.
Normally the times that are listed online don’t correlate to when the movie actually starts and instead are when the trailers and commercials begin to play, but a Connecticut bill proposed in January might change things nationwide and make it so that movie theaters have to list when both the trailers start and when the actual movies start.
On January 21, 2025 Connecticut state senator Martin Looney from New Haven, proposed a bill that would legally require all movie theaters in the state to say when the advertisements and trailers start and when the movie itself starts. Looney stated in an interview with The Registered Citizen that theaters not giving accurate times for when the movies start on their websites abuse people’s time. He said that separately listing when the ads start and when the actual movie starts would allow people who are interested in the trailers and promos to know when to go and for people who only want to see the movie to know exactly when to get there to avoid all the annoying commercials. The bill has yet to pass, but Looney says that he believes that it will as it has cross-party support as it is an issue of truth in advertising.
Moviegoers have mixed opinions on this potential bill and how it could affect the moviegoing experience nationwide. Many believe that this bill would be very beneficial to people wanting to go to the movies so they’ll be able to schedule their day better or make arrangements for a babysitter and know exactly what time to go to the theater. Others don’t see the need for this change as most of the major movie theater chains like AMC and Regal alert ticket buyers to come 20-30 minutes for the trailers and commercials to play before the movie begins to play. They fear it would also negatively impact smaller local theaters who financially depend on the commercials to stay afloat during an already difficult time for them to stay in business.
“I really don’t see the need to do this,” said Marco, a local frequent moviegoer. “Most people going to the movie theater already know that the movie doesn’t actually start at the time on the website. If you don’t want to watch the trailers then come a little later or go buy concessions or use the bathroom or go on your phone for a bit while the ads are playing before the movie starts.”
Alexis, a less frequent moviegoer, also weighed in on the debate: “I think that’s an interesting idea. I hate sitting through all the commercials so it would be nice to know when the actual movie starts so I don’t have to sit through those ads anymore. Nobody likes them, so why force everybody to have to watch them? This way I won’t have to sit around waiting for the movie to start or don’t have to gamble with waiting an extra half an hour to go to the theater hoping I haven’t missed part of the movie. That’s happened to me a few times before and it’s super annoying! I’m really hoping this gets passed so I won’t have to do either of those anymore.”
Movie theaters have been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to shut down for months and as lockdown restrictions were lifted fewer people were going out to see a movie at the theater for a variety of reasons. Some feel it’s too expensive when you add up the ticket and concession prices, others find that movie theaters have become distracting and unsafe due to some people choosing not to follow the rules while the movies plays. And some people believe there aren’t many movies coming out nowadays worthy of going to a theater to view and would rather wait until they’re out on streaming.
Only time will tell if this decision to show the time when the movie itself begins will positively or negatively impact people’s interest in going to a movie theater.
