Have you ever wondered about how a movie schedule is determined by any specific theater in your area? While really serious movie lovers may be aware of how a movie schedule is created for their favorite theater, it's likely that the vast majority of movie lovers aren't really aware of what happens. As you might guess, any theater's movie schedule will generally be developed by the venue's general manager. Here's what happens behind-the-scenes.

Developing a movie schedule

Since most new releases hit theaters on Fridays, it's necessary for the general manager to establish the movie schedule for the week several days earlier, usually on Tuesday. At the very latest sometime later on Wednesday will be the cutoff time for developing a movie schedule for the upcoming week.

There will of course, be general guidelines which have been issued by any theater's corporate office, and they do have ultimate authority over the development of any movie schedule, but that still leaves an awful lot of discretion and leeway for the movie theater's general manager to set up a schedule for the upcoming week. When the general manager is considering options for this week's movie schedule, he/she will consider the ratings of new-release movies, as well as the anticipated public demand flixhq for those new releases.

Show times

There are also some considerations about the local area which need to be taken into account. For instance, if local schools are still in session, there may not be as much opportunity for youngsters to see family-rated movies, whereas during school recess times, hordes of children will be available to see many of those same movies. The location of the theater also comes into play, because if it is easily accessible off a major interstate highway, that means patrons will have an easier time getting there and won't need as much time to wend their way through traffic.

With regard to showtimes on the movie schedule, this can be a big factor because ideally, popular movies should be made available at times when they are most accessible to the viewing public. Even relatively minor factors such as allowing sufficient time for cleaning out theaters between showings, needs to be considered by a general manager when developing the movie schedule.



The method of developing a movie schedule

On an average multiplex theater venue, each screen is generally capable of showing 3 to 5 movies per day, including its trailers and advertisements. This being the case, a theater comprised of 10 screens will generally average around 280 movie screenings per week. That means the general manager has to decide which movies will be shown, on which screens those movies will be displayed, which days the films will be offered, and at which times of each day those movies will be offered.

At present, most of this work is generally accomplished by general managers using pencil and paper, although some managers have also taken to using spreadsheets to model their weekly movie schedule. When all the variables have been considered, and an optimal movie schedule has been developed, it's generally locked in no later than Wednesday evening, and the movie schedule for the upcoming week is good to go.








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