Those anticipating the release of the new Huntsman movie, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, will have the opportunity to watch it a week early.
Universal Pictures has brought several films — Trainwreck, Dumb and Dumber To, Neighbors and Unfriended — to Ohio University for an early screening. The film studio will be showing another movie a week before its nationwide release.
The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., will screen The Huntsman: Winter’s War Thursday at 7 p.m. This event is free for all who attend, but seating is limited.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War is set to premiere Apr. 22 and is a prequel to the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman.
Garrett Haptonstall, the Universal Hollywood Studios OU campus representative, said some of the duties he has as the campus representative include running the Twitter account, booking the theater and handing out tickets.
“(Universal Pictures does) this event all throughout the country with upcoming movies,” Haptonstall, a senior studying marketing and management information systems, said. “It’s to create buzz.”
The first film Haptonstall promoted, he said, was Neighbors, which had the best turnout for one of the Universal Pictures early screenings. According to Haptonstall, they had to turn away over 200 people.
“The line for the movie went from the Athena to Wendy’s,” he said.
During and after the film, Haptonstall documents the audience’s reactions and opinions of the movie, then relays the information to Universal.
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“(The audience) can have a direct impact on the movie,” Haptonstall said.
Haptonstall said he will be handing out free merchandise, such as posters, key chains and possibly t-shirts, for the film.
Chance Kiggins, a senior studying aviation management, said it is a possibility that he will see The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Kiggins has attended a few of the Universal Pictures’ early screenings.
“(I go to these events) to see new movies before they come out in theaters,” he said.
Alexandra Kamody, the director of the Athena, said the theater has been partnered with Universal Pictures to put on this event for three years.
The early screenings usually have a decent turnout, Kamody said. She added that it is a “way to get students in the door.”
“We have had them sell out and sometimes we have a line around the block,” Kamody said.
The Athena usually shows the films in a theater that has a maximum capacity of 200 people, Kamody said. The box office reports show that 195 people watched Dumb and Dumber To at the Athena and Unfriended had a turnout of 151 people.
Kamody admits the films they show for this event are not “films we normally play,” but still encourages students to come to the screening.
“It’s good, free entertainment,” Kamody said. “(Students) can get a break from studying and hang out with friends.”
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