Many Northwood students go through a night of waiting in lines and sitting in packed theaters just to get the pride of saying: “I went to the midnight premiere.”
Students find premieres to be exciting because people make such enormous deals out of them.
“I read all three of [The Hunger Games] books back in middle school, and I’ve always been excited about a movie coming out. When [the movie] finally came out, I was like ‘Oh my God, I have to go to the midnight premiere,’” said senior Yancey Luft.
Most students buy their tickets at least two weeks in advance. Buying tickets in advance doesn’t guarantee a good seat though. Luft bought her tickets for The Hunger Games two weeks before its March debut, waited in line for an hour and was forced to sit at the very front.
“I think being some of the first to see [the movie] is just really cool and I didn’t want to wait at all,” said Luft.
Sophomore Lane Poag bought tickets three months in advance for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last summer, which was sold out two months in advance. She ended up sitting toward the front, after waiting in line for an hour and a half.
Although the wait seems tedious to some students, sophomore Courtney Lineman explained that waiting in line with excited fans was entertaining.
“[People] were running around screaming lines from the movie and asking people how they thought [the movie] was going to be,” said Lineman, who waited in line three hours to see the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
Many fans even dress up for premieres. Poag dressed as a half muggle, half wizard for the final Harry Potter film.
“[I dressed up] because I felt the need [to] and it was just a lot of fun,” said Poag.
Some students want to go to midnight premieres so they can be some of the first people to see the movie.
“I was really impatient, so I didn’t want to wait until the next day,” said junior Brandon Edwards, who saw the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games in March.
Edwards also read The Hunger Games series and enjoyed it. Both Edwards and Luft were excited to see the movie. Luft said the movie did the book justice.
Luft was one of the few who got to participate in a trivia game in the Southpoint movie theater at the premiere. Some UNC-Chapel Hill students started the game. They had a mock reaping, which was similar to a scene from the movie, and Luft’s name was chosen out of the note cards. There were 24 people participating and they were asked trivia questions until one remained. Luft did not win.
Some students, however, do not like going through the trouble just to see a movie at midnight. They find it to be too late and are worried about school the next day.
“[Midnight premieres] are late at night and school is hard,” said sophomore Donald Morgan. “I need to go to sleep.”
Despite possible drawbacks, many students still seem to like going to premieres. Poag and Lineman both saw Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 at midnight.
“All the people dressed up and the feeling in the air… you could just tell everyone there wanted to see it and they were all excited,” said Lineman.
–By Tori Nothnagel