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Ticket Wars The menace in "Phantom" comes from scalpers and fans left at the turnstile Wednesday, May 19, 1999
Who needs the Super Bowl when you have the premier movie event of the millennium? At least that's what the scalpers or online sellers might have you believe. Some scalpers across the country were asking for $50 or more (a rumored $1,000 in New York) for seats to today's 12:01 a.m. showing of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." It was the initial public screening of the prequel, the first new installment in the series in 16 years.
In Pittsburgh yesterday, some earlybirds got the tickets for the midnight showing and some did not. And those who did not were not happy campers. Not at all. You might say the dark side of the Force -- those twin demons of anger and disappointment -- was with them.
Since George Lucas, king of all things "Star Wars," had decreed that a single customer could purchase 12 tickets, some buyers wiped out the inventory for the initial screening in record time. Unlike the Super Bowl, however, the movie will be shown over and over and over for a mandated minimum of eight weeks.
Lucas and 20th Century Fox initially had decided against advance ticket sales to prevent scalping but relented under pressure from theater owners. When tickets went on sale a week ago at some theaters, each customer was limited to a dozen.
Now, some of those tickets have found their way onto the Internet.
The online auction house eBay has posted hundreds of listings. There were examples of tickets getting bids for double or triple their face value. One seller got a bid of $89.99 for two $8.50 tickets for Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. That's roughly five times the face price.
None of this even takes into account the sellers who will stand in the shadows of the parking lot and, sounding like peddlers of precious Steeler ducats, ask, "Who needs two?"
If 20th Century executives are angry about newspapers and magazines running their reviews early, they're not happy about this turn of events, either. "It's horrible," said Tom Sherak, head of 20th Century's domestic film group. "This is just what we didn't want."
Unlike some chains, Carmike did not start selling tickets last week, which meant a run on seats yesterday morning.
"We did try to get it on as many screens as possible and incorporate as many screenings as possible," David Borton, Carmike's district manager, said yesterday. There will be midnight showings tonight, tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at Carmike theaters, along with some unusual morning screenings. At the Carmike 10 at South Hills Village, "The Phantom Menace" is on three screens, with the movie running virtually non-stop -- but not around the clock.
The movie, of course, is playing elsewhere in Pittsburgh, including Southland 9, Cranberry 8, Waterworks, Squirrel Hill, Harmar and the Showcase cinemas. Ticket-selling policies vary from chain to chain. Carmike, for instance, is selling same-day tickets.
Squirrel Hill, which also had a midnight show, started selling advance tickets yesterday at noon and also will offer same-day seats.
Waterworks kicked off its run at midnight and will go all day and all night this weekend -- from 10 a.m. Friday through 10 p.m. Sunday. One-half of the tickets for each auditorium are being sold beginning a week in advance. The rest become available each morning for that day's shows.
The advance allotment for most of today's shows are sold out but that still leaves the day-of sales. Some of the weekend shows also have sold out their advance portion, again leaving seats for walk-up business.
To keep the crowds occupied and happy this weekend, Waterworks will provide entertainment in the parking lot. Jazz and instrumental bands will play, a magician will circulate and a trailer will be set up to sell Pepsi (of course, since it's a "Phantom" promotional partner), cotton candy, hot dogs and sno-cones.
The inflated prices scalpers are getting, by the way, will have no effect on the movie's take at the box office, said Paul Dergarabedian, an entertainment analyst with Exhibitor Relations Co.
"If a ticket is being scalped, it had to be bought first. The theaters are basically going to sell every ticket that's available," he said. "The loser is the moviegoer, who gets lost in the shuffle and will have to pony up a lot of money to see this film."
-- Barbara Vancheri and Ron Weiskind, Post-Gazette staff writers. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
GET WELL
WDSY-FM (107.9) is collecting signatures for a get- well card for Kittanning resident Kelly Dietz, who was seriously injured in an auto accident.
Last August, the station sponsored a contest in which the winner would sing Shania Twain's "What Made You Say That" during the singer's appearance at Star Lake Amphitheatre. Dietz beat about 300 others for the chance to perform the song and meet Twain. The country singer was in town again last night for a performance at Star Lake Amphitheatre.
-- Adrian McCoy,
Post-Gazette Staff Writer
DRUG RUN-IN
Prince Charles was reported angry and Camilla Parker Bowles in tears over the admission by her son -- Charles' godson -- that he's used cocaine.
Tom Parker Bowles, 24, a publicist at the current Cannes Film Festival, had been regarded as a "big brother" to Princes William, 16, and Harry, 14, since their mother's death.
Bet Queen Elizabeth is just thrilled at the news.
FLAVOR OF THE MONTH
Get ready for a glut of books on pop star Ricky Martin, a la Leonardo DiCaprio last year. Coming your way: Anne M. Raso's "Ricky Martin: A Scrapbook in Words and Pictures" from Random House; Elina Furman's "Ricky Martin" from St. Martin's; Pocket Books' "Ricky Martin: Rockin' the House"; a quickie by Kathleen Tracy from Zebra Books; and an unauthorized bio by Letisha Marraeo from HarperCollins.
-- From wire reports
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