How are movies earning money on their previews?
 

I saw in Bing headlines that "Evil Dead Rise makes $2.5m in previews" while the movie is currently playing in theaters. This money isn't included in the box office earnings for the movie itself and is a separate total. I didn't know that films made money on their previews, actually I thought it was the opposite, that the production companies must pay for their preview slots, much like commercials, but I guess I was wrong. A browser search didn't give me any answers, so my question is, how are movies earning money on their previews?

Re: How are movies earning money on their previews?
 

"Previews" in that context means showings the night "before" release, IE: Thursday at midnight, and (increasingly) Thursday evenings.

Okay, well then, that should be explained in the article more prominently, I will go double check to see if I was being unobservant.

Re: How are movies earning money on their previews?
 

I shouldn't try using my brain when I am tired and used up.

Re: How are movies earning money on their previews?
 

:laugh: No worries. It's not a particularly intuitive term. Box office articles are rife with industry jargon.

If I know I'm gonna see a movie, I make a point never to watch the previews. No exceptions. I want to get the full effect while watching. Many a time I'll be the only one laughing or reacting to something because I'm the only person in the room or theater that's seeing it for the first time.
If this is off topic to what the OP wants, my apologies. I also go into a thread without reading the first post and just give my impression from the thread title alone.

I don't mind the previews while in theaters but on DVD or anywhere else I skip them. VHS would often have previews and it was a pain fast forwarding through them when you were anxious to see the movie. I might watch them on IMDb every once in a long while but I would rather hear recommendations from moviegoers and decide if I like the posters and other physical display promotional items. Sometimes a talk show interview might be enough to get me to go see a movie. But generally, I don't care to see previews.

Sorry, but Yoda lies. These earnings are based on speculative trading on box office futures. This trading is largely based on mindless algorithms, but some studios bet on themselves and make money and create "buzz." Crazy, I know. Nancy Pelosi has made a ton of money in these deals. You might find this unethical and upsetting, but none of this is true, and I am making all this up, so it's all good.

To me, previews are neither here nor there. I occasionally will watch a trailer in order to gauge the feel or subject of a film.

But these days I rarely watch a movie that I haven't read its synopsis-- like on Wikipedia. There is so much ca-ca out there today that I try to reduce the odds of investing time to watch a film that I won't like...:cool:

I do often buy preview tickets via my multiple (and clearly excessive) cinema, film club etc memberships. I’m sure there isn’t much difference but helps avoid spoilers and I don’t know, I usually try to watch the stuff I’m interested in as soon as possible, so even one extra day feels nice — not sure why.

Yes, apparently the big hits make a nice stack of cash on their previews. They probably pour it back in to advertising expenses.