By Michael Farrell
Staff Writer
July 18, 2008 10:46 pm
Yesterday morning, at a time that suited Gloucester's own insomniacs, denizens of the night turned out in droves at Gloucester Cinema for the earliest premiere of "The Dark Knight" in Cape Ann — just minutes after midnight.
"I'm surprised this many people found out about this," said theater owner John Williams Jr. Especially considering the state of the economy, added Williams, it's always nice when things turn out better then expected.
For opening night, Williams used the 175-seat viewing room, and the theater sold about 110 tickets. More than 90 percent of the theatergoers appeared to be teenagers and young adults.
Two days before opening night, Nancy Hilshey said, she had come to the theater on Route 133 to buy gift certificates. Hearing about the early premiere of the movie, her son Ryan, who turns 11 in a month, begged her to let him go.
"I don't have a problem with my son," Hilshey said before the screening. "It's me! I don't know if I can make it." Her son may be on summer vacation, she explained, but she had to go to work in the morning.
Up until two days before the show, Williams had not planned to run the film until last night for just that reason. Despite his misgivings, though, his son Joe, 19, was able to convince him otherwise. Williams bought the small theater complex in 2000. And he took ownership just in time for the release of "The Perfect Storm," which has been the cinema's top-selling movie to date. Its Gloucester run, he said, sold out for three months straight.
Once he made the decision to show the movie, Williams had two days to spread the word about the late night show. His teenage employees helped take care of it by creating groups on the popular social networking Web sites MySpace and Facebook.
Brenden Henry, a Gloucester High School student, found out about the movie on Facebook, and called a bunch of his friends to convince them to go. And, at the show, he said, he knew or recognized most of the people in the theater because they were also from Gloucester High.
While the theater seemed dominated by Gloucester High students, there were a handful of adults whose schedules permitted them to take in a late night movie.
"(I'm) not really a Batman fan but I'm an insomniac and I love movies," said 22-year-old Aton Kurgun, who was waiting to buy his snacks at the popcorn stand before the movie.
Pete Leathers, 35, came to the show with his friend Rose Ryan, 36. Leathers works the 3 to 11 p.m. shift at Varian Semiconductor Equipment in Gloucester. He said that he tries to make the midnight shows at Gloucester Cinema when they're offered.
While youths are supposedly more vigorous and hearty than adults, even some of the teenagers confessed to nearly falling asleep despite the fast-paced, high-action film.
"I'm just glad I was able to stay awake," said Chris Muise after the movie ended around 2:30 in the morning. "Dude, one of the funniest parts tonight is my curfew was at 9:30 p.m."
"It was so worth it, though," added his friend, Stephen Boushie.
"Definitely, so worth it," Henry said.
"It's by far the best movie I've seen in years," exclaimed Antonio Saputo, who described the scenes with the Joker as "mind-blowing."
"The thing is," said Michael Morin, a Rockport resident who is a student at North Shore Technical High School in Middleton, "I had wanted to go to the bathroom through the entire thing but I couldn't. It was so good!"
The Dark Knight is rated PG-13. It is two hours and 32 minutes long, and will be playing at the Gloucester Cinema today and tomorrow at 1, 4, 7 and 9:40 p.m.
Michael Farrell can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com
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The late Australian actor Heath Ledger, who moviegoers and critics alike said stole the show in his portrayal of the Joker in the latest Batman movie, was a noted insomniac.
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