Theaters Open Doors for an Election Worthy of the Big Screen.
'The dramatic presidential campaign of 2016 has often felt like something beyond even Hollywood’s wildest imagination.
So it seems fitting that when this two-year slog toward Election Day finally comes to its conclusion on Nov. 8, you’ll be able to watch it in stadium seating with surround sound, clutching a box of buttered popcorn.
AMC Theaters announced on Oct. 24 that it would show CNN’s election-night coverage in 50 theaters in the United States — designating a “red” and a “blue” theater in each of 25 cities. It follows a move by a rival chain, Regal Cinemas, which showed the final two presidential debates in more than 200 theaters across the country.
And they’re hardly alone: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a chain based in Austin, Tex., saw more than 7,000 people attend its debate screenings this fall, said John Smith, its social media director, and is planning for election-night events as well. (The chain, famous for its zero-tolerance policy on cellphone use and talking during its screenings, will relax those rules on election night, he said.)
“You’ve got people in a room for two or three hours watching cable news together,” Mr. Smith said. It’s “one of the few times we can come together and watch something together.”'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/movie-theaters-election-night-amc.html?
