Crowd Report: "Fahrenheit 9/11"

At 2:30 on Friday at the Westwood Crest (465 seats) in LA, the line to get in for the 2:30 show (it was starting late, evidently) was reminiscent of the 3:30 show for The Matrix Reloaded on its opening day (Thursday). Reloaded did play at the Village (1300 seats), a much bigger theater, but that was the last movie I?ve seen play to such a crowd status by just the afternoon time.

By 2:30, the 7:30 for Fahrenheit had already sold out but the 10:00 was still open. That was somewhat similar to the opening day of Signs ($20.9 million - $6,398 per-screen), though I?m willing to bet money that Signs did not play to such bustling results as Fahrenheit during the day. And I think the 7:30 show of Signs had sold out by the late afternoon, whereas Fahrenheit might have sold out by the morning or afternoon (which would prove the difference in demand).

I checked the Crest?s web site throughout the week since you can reserve seats online (and you can see which seats have been taken), and by Tuesday the 5:00, 7:30, and 10:00 shows had already pre-sold at least 100 seats just with online ticketing. I?ve never seen such an early turnout at the Crest, but it may very well have been similar to how The Two Towers ($26.2 million - $7,223 per-screen) pre-sold at the Village theater in Westwood for opening day (Wednesday).

The big difference, though, is that Lord of the Rings is three hours long, which impacts the amount of shows per-day; some theaters can fit five showings of Fahrenheit in a day on one screen (and can offer more than one), allowing for more business opportunity. And considering Fahrenheit?s significant adult factor, the morning / early afternoon shows are probably more packed than Two Towers was (maybe not everywhere, but to a solid enough extent).

When The Day After Tomorrow ($23.5 million - $6,862 per-screen) debuted at the Crest, the 7:30 didn?t sell out on Friday night, but I heard there were only 11 seats left, which also proves that it was probably not close to selling out by the afternoon. When I got there for the 10:00 show the screening was not sold out yet, though it eventually was (after the line had gone in).

When I bought tickets at 2:30 for the 10:00 of Fahrenheit, I wasn?t the only one buying for another show, which hints that the 10:00 was probably sold out by sometime in the evening if not the late afternoon. When I got back at 9:00 it was sold out, and a line was already stretched down the block a little bit; eventually, the line was even longer than the one for Day After Tomorrow.

Also by the afternoon, Fahrenheit had sold out most evening and night shows in town; it was nearly impossible to find an open show if you didn?t want to wait until 12:30 am (I might have been one of the last ones to snatch a 10:00 ticket at the Crest). I?m not sure what The Passion ($23.6 million - $8,816 per-screen) was like on its Wednesday debut in terms of its early afternoon crowd status, but the scenario for Fahrenheit may not have been too far off from it.

I was quite interested to see what kind of crowd I?d be with, as the 2:30 line had about every demographic, ranging from college-age to those in their 60?s. The 10:00 show cut off the older moviegoer factor I had seen that afternoon, as the demographic ranged from early-20?s to mid-40?s, and the gender ratio looked about even.

When the lights dimmed there was some cheering and some light applause, which was a pretty good sign that we had the right crowd for this film; the audience at Day After Tomorrow wasn?t even that vocal until a little bit into the movie (when they started ripping it apart).

The first trailer was I, Robot, and many folks in there seemed to know what the film was from the start (in a negative standpoint). The ad retrieved a lot of sarcastic remarks afterwards, and some people were trying to jumpstart a round of booing, but nothing big resulted from the attempt.

The second (and last) trailer was for Open Water, and people started quieting down as it got into its plot (they were still gossiping about I, Robot to some extent). It was hard to tell if the response for this was good or bad, as there were a few faintly heard claps and cheers afterwards, but there was mostly just gossip afterwards ? whether it was indifferent or excited gossip is an unknown.

Once the lights fully dimmed, the crowd started cheering, and they continued with cheers and applause through the studio/company logos. At the IFC logo, someone exclaimed, ?Yeah, IFC!? which made the crowd burst into laughter and continue with the enthusiasm.

Some of the opening credits withdrew some applause, but the biggest cheers and applause moment from that segment came from Michael Moore?s credit. This is also the first film I?ve ever seen where the audience has applauded many times throughout the movie, and the first time in my life where I?ve ever seen half the crowd give a standing ovation afterwards (everyone roared into cheers and applause).

However, given the responses throughout the film it was pretty evident that the majority of the moviegoers were democrats, and so I?m not sure if the reactions that I witnessed are going to be the average responses elsewhere. These moviegoers obviously hated Bush with an intense passion, and this film gave them even more reason to do so.

For Friday, a per-screen average of at least $8,600 is looking pretty good, which would put Fahrenheit?s gross between $7.5 - 9.0 million (the latter being Reloaded?s average translated, though it also had Wednesday midnight screenings included).

For those who actually care, I finally scored some pictures of the Crest, as you can find below:
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