Captain Marvel
Release date: Friday, March 8, 2019
Search-string “captain marvel empty theatres”
About 2,020,000 results
Cinema data tracked by PostTrak
And Cinema Score
These services poll film goers AFTER they see a movie. Their numbers reportedly track. (Let’s call this Group A).
Where possible I checked images with Google Reverse Image Search and Tineye.
Information on pictures was extracted with http://metapicz.com/#landing
Top results
Image forwarded from Twitter, no context. No external or independent corroboration.
Same story, same picture.
Seating: Posted two days before the UK premiere on a Tuesday.
Twitter account from Jamacia.
Theatre: Posted one day before the UK premirere.
Twitter account from England.
Forum. Not credible.
Forum. Not credible.
7. Reddit, KotakuInAction sub-reddit. Not at all credible.
https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/b0qy7v/new_reports_of_empty_theaters_at_captain_marvel/
https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/b0qy7v/new_reports_of_empty_theaters_at_captain_marvel/
9. Another link, same picture as #1. Checked with reverse image search.
10. Several Twitter shots, none with independent corroboration.
More of the same Twitter pictures, same dozen are being reshared. Same site also criticizes Brie Larson’s appearance. Checked with reverse image search and
https://digitalempire. REMOVE wordpress.com/2019/03/11/disney-possibly-bought-out-box-office-tickets-to-boost-captain-marvel-perception/
NOTE: Facebook considers Digital Empire to be a fraudulent site.
11. Even if every single picture is legitimate, 12 to 15 theatres not sold out are not a trend among 1,000s of openings.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt
12. Pinterest page. Deleted as a bot.
13. Forum, relinks links from above.
By page 3 of results, we get individual showtimes for the movie.
No theater manager (let’s call them Group B) is ever mentioned by name. No theatre and times were ever given.
AMC (let’s call them part of Group B, but they could be financially Group C) has a database of ticket sales and concession sales that can be checked.
Compare the number of ticket sales vs. concession sales and see if CM is an outlier; that is more ticket sales vs. average ticket sales. Compare the weeks of release across all theatres. Compare to other Marvel movies and perform a t-test to see if there is a significant difference in sales. Adjust for summer releases when more concessions are sold.
Buy Disney stock (Stockholders, Group D). When the next quarter happens, request a full stockholder report and look for anomalies in accounting. Of course, you will need a degree in forensic accounting.
We now have 3-4 groups, A, B, C, and D that all have a vested financial interest in the success of any movie and this movie in particular. Each and every member of these groups need to be on board with this plan and NONE of them can talk about it. In six months no one has come forward with this. No manager has talked about, no theatre company has demanded new contract terms because of this from Disney/Buena Vista. No shareholder has raised a complaint over lost money (buying tickets costs money that is not recapped in box office gross). Plus polling sites like PostTrak and CinemaScore’s own data disputes the “empty theatre” hoax.
There is no data to support this claim. Nothing that even passes the “sniff” test.
