Are Midnight Releases a Thing of the Past?

Some of my favorite parts about the Harry Potter fandom were the midnight releases for the books and movies. I looked forward to them. I even met one my best geeky friends at the Order of the Phoenix premiere. Yet, the more movies that come out, the less I see 12:00 a.m. as a showtime.

One of my friends (the one I met atOrder of the Phoenix) bought tickets for the much anticipated Mockingjay movie coming out in just a couple short weeks. While I’m extremely excited to see this film, I was beyond disappointed when the latest showtime read 11:00 p.m. Maybe it’s just me, but that is not a premiere. That to me qualifies as a pre-screening.

While not all series having a following as big as the Potterheads, removing the actual midnight premiere discourages the excitement that coincides with the technical release time of a book or movie. Does this mean there will be no more Muggles dressing up as witches and wizards and waiting in lines that surround buildings? Will there be no more of those few courageous fans who stood up at the front of the theater and started singing Potter Puppet Pals before the rest of the fans joined in? What about the times where you could boast to your friends that you got the 12:00 a.m., time and they were stuck with the 12:01 a.m.?

Assuming that the films will be given actual midnight release times, I hope the new Fantastic Beasts movies will spark a desire in original and new Potter fans alike to show the world what a premiere really means. After all, no one does it better than a Potterhead.