Movie Theater Secrets

7 Things Movie Theater Employees Won’t Tell You

Is movie theater popcorn made with real butter? Why is theater candy so costly? We sat down with three former theater employees to get the goods.

1.  Don’t eat the “butter”

Josh Harold, former AMC theater manager in Madison, WI, tells us that movie theater popcorn is not only butter-free, but it’s also topped with chemicals meant to spread that delicious popcorn aroma around the place. “Steer clear of the corn,” said Harold, “but if you gotta have it, have it plain. Nobody knows what’s in the butter flavor.”

2. Go ahead, sneak in

Ever found the theater fire door unlocked and thought about slipping in for a free showing? “Go for it,” says our resident theater expert and former manager Josh Harold. “We know who stays and catches a show they didn’t pay for and who got in the fire exit and how, but most employees are too busy to care. Unless you’re hightailing it in during a midnight showing where only four people paid for seats, nobody is going to bust you.”

3. Stick with boxed candy

Taber Marlin used to run his own theater in Butte, Montana and says that the only movie theater food he trusts is the boxed candy. “Nachos, hot dogs , pretzels and popcorn sit out all day and sometimes for more than a day. They get coughed on and touched and who knows what nibbles on them at night.”

4. Movies almost always start late

When a movie is advertised as starting at 9pm, it actually starts about ten minutes later. Movies start late so that you have to sit through a few previews, guaranteeing you’ll find a new movie that interests and will come back for another show. “Movies always end on time though,” says former manager Josh Harold. “We have to have time to clean up between showings.”

5. To get the freshest popcorn, don’t see a matinee

Popcorn keeps for up to three days without losing much of its crunch. Don’t confuse warm with fresh. Popcorn that doesn’t sell tonight will get mixed in with freshly popped corn tomorrow. If you want the freshest bag of popcorn, see a movie at night. Demand is higher during busy evening showings, and the popcorn machine is constantly working to push out new corn at that time.

6. IMAX beats other technology

If you’re paying extra for a film shown in Extreme Digital or XD, stop. IMAX, a technology that allows you to view images in a higher resolution and also in 3D, is currently the best on the market and costs the same as Extreme Digital showings.

7. We stay in business because of the concessions stand

Maude Beaker owns a small chain of theaters in Salt Lake City, Utah and says that for the first few weeks of any new showing, all the money they make off tickets goes to pay the movie studios who make the films, and also the distributors. “We stay in business because you buy popcorn and other goodies,” said Beaker. “This is why you almost never see a deal on boxed candy or pretzels, and also why we don’t let you bring your own food in.”

 

 

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