I'd like to rent out a good movie theatre in the boston area for a
private viewing of the Matrix Reloaded with a large group of friends,
possibly but not necessarily showing it at an unscheduled time. Can
you find me such a theatre and how much would it cost (e.g., how many
people would I need to commit to make it worth our while)?

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Clarification of Question by englishpaulm-ga on 07 May 2003 14:48 PDT

cf http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/
cf http://ae.boston.com/calendar/features/movie_theaters/
cf http://ae.boston.com/movies/search/

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Clarification of Question by englishpaulm-ga on 08 May 2003 05:00 PDT

Well, that's why I said I'd be willing to do this at a time which had
previously been unscheduled. E.g., during the day, and it doesn't have
to be on the first week of release. And if the best offer I can get is
to prepay for a certain number of seats, that's probably what I'd do.
(Anyone want to come with us? :)

For a researcher to be able to help you, you'll have to specify what
part of the world you are located in. :)

Insert foot in mouth... mine that is.  You already said Boston area...
D'oh.  I will go and have a nap now. :)

I haven't found an answer to your question, but I wish I had friends like you. :-)

My goodness, what a party. Given the fact that the movie in question
is predicted to be the hottest ticket of the year, this is likely to
be prohibitively expensive, I would think.

I know that a theatre near me has a room for private showings, but I
can tell you that it is booked way in advance (even during slow times)
The company is: http://www.cineplex.com/

tisme-ga

Hmmm. Having worked previously in the theater business, I'm willing to
say that you won't find anyone in a market as large as Boston's who
will "four wall" their theater for a hot ticket movie while on its
first run. There are very strict contractual conditions upon theaters
showing films which are expected to have high ticket sales. I wouldn't
be surprised if theaters in a town the size of Boston will be handing
over at least 90% of the box office to the owners of Matrix Reloaded
during the first few weeks of its release. Also, the film distributor
will require some absolute minimum number of dollars per documented
ticket sold. It's very expensive, and is the reason why it costs close
to ten bucks for a drink & a bucket of corn! Concessions are the only
real profit for a theater.

   The bottom line is that a showing of a hot movie takes up time
which needs to be dedictated to filling as many seats as possible. The
theater owner may not even be allowed to have a private screening of
the product during its most profitable weeks.  (Of course, it never
hurts to ask.)

-Mark Martin

I've actually rented a theater a couple of times before so I think I
can give you some tips. While I don't know anything about theaters
Boston, I can give you some general information based on my own
experiences with various theater chains here in Arizona.

- Many theaters charge separately for viewing the film and the
auditorium rental itself. This is because many people rent theaters
without any desire to watch a movie at all. (i.e. for business
seminars, etc.)

- The price of renting the auditorium can be highly variable. The
price depends not only on how big a theater you need and when you want
it, but frequently on how well you can wheel and deal... so be
prepared to haggle. Some theaters will cut you a break if it's for
personal use; if it's for business use they often want more. I was
able to negotiate to rent a small screen for a birthday party early in
the day for only $400, but an evening rental of a large screen for a
company event cost substantially much more.

- The studio, not the theater, generally determines the availability
of the film... and may also influence the price. One my local
theaters' rental policy is that the cost of viewing the print is
included in the rental price of the auditorium, as long as the movie
is currently being shown and there are no studio restrictions that
prevent them from showing it to a private audience. (The same theater
also adjusts the rental price based on the number of attendees, so
they don't lose "ticket money".) If the film is not being shown, it
becomes much more expensive because you must also cover costs to the
studio for rental, shipping and insurance on the reel--this also
varies, but an additional $300-$400 would be a reasonable starting
point. Anyway, my point is that it is usually cheaper to rent a
theater to watch a movie that is still playing than it is to rent a
theater to watch a movie that has finished its run, counter-intuitive
as that may sound.

- As Mark mentioned, the studio may place restrictions, but you should
*definitely* ask. I tried to set up a double showing of the Lord of
the Rings movies when the second one started playing (my spouse missed
the first one), and surprisingly my local theater was more than happy
to make arrangements... unfortunately, while it seemed I could get the
*second* film with no problem--even though it was such a hot
ticket--it quickly became apparent that getting the *first* film was
going to be either impossible at the time or prohibitively expensive,
so I didn't go through with it.

So, in short, from my experience expect to pay at least $500-$1000
dollars... possibly more, but probably not too much less. (Don't take
that as a quote, but hopefully that gives you a ballpark idea.) Unless
you have a pretty big crowd, you are probably better off purchasing a
block of seats. Even in that case, talk to the manager, as he or she
may still be able to cut you a deal... or at the very least block off
a few rows so you can sit together. My children's elementary school
has arranged several field trips to the movies, and has been able to
get reserved seating for 30-40 children during a regular daytime show.
Many places are more than happy to work with you as long as it means
money in their pockets.

-Spot