'Hugo' Screening Ruined By Commercials (VIDEO)

First Posted: 01/17/12 03:34 PM ET Updated: 01/17/12 03:34 PM ET

Is it any wonder why potential film goers are spending more and more time on their couches instead of at the multiplex? At a showing of "Hugo" in Manhattan on Saturday night, viewers were treated to what amounts to a worst-nightmare scenario: the film broke down, twice, and the final 30 minutes were overlapped with theater commercials. That's bad enough, but when you consider that the finale of "Hugo" -- spoiler alert -- deals with film preservation, it almost seems criminal.

According to a patron, who was in the theater and filmed the egregious ending, the delays extended the theatrical stay to three-and-a-half hours. The theater tried to make amends with irate customers, but it didn't really stick.

"When the movie was over people were really pissed, the managers were standing outside handing out passes and apologizing but after going through all that to get to the end of the movie and to have that happen was surreal," the tipster told Gothamist.

You can watch the "surreal" reactions in the above video (spoilers, since it's the end), which was posted to YouTube as follows: "Dear Mr Scorsese. This is what they did to your movie last night."

[via Gothamist]

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Is it any wonder why potential film goers are spending more and more time on their couches instead of at the multiplex? At a showing of "Hugo" in Manhattan on Saturday night, viewers were treated to w...
Is it any wonder why potential film goers are spending more and more time on their couches instead of at the multiplex? At a showing of "Hugo" in Manhattan on Saturday night, viewers were treated to w...
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11:59 PM on 01/19/2012
well...i am an older person.........i do remember the good old days when we had movie palaces and it was an EVENT to go to a move in terms of the look and cleanliness of the place and the magic of WHAT IT WAS LIKE to go to a film in a great space..its too bad they look like mismanaged bathrooms these days.........and they pay their employees crap and ther is no real projectionist to make sure the film is not in trouble..........very sad...so many things are sad today...thank you progress?
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hairydodger
10:43 PM on 01/18/2012
Marty, hope you enjoy your new hand cranked movie camera.
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stepfordhusband
09:41 AM on 01/18/2012
That Martin is a genius.
09:16 AM on 01/18/2012
So a movie theater had technical problems? And that's a story? So what?

I'm sure it ruined those people's night, but in the grand scheme of things, so what? It's not like the people at the movie are going to be scarred by this.

Machines break down once in a while. The headline made it sound like this was something deliberate.
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DaniFoxy
Crazy girl from LA
08:10 AM on 01/18/2012
Spoiler alert: I stopped caring in the first paragraph
07:41 AM on 01/18/2012
Crap spoiler alert. Thanks for nothing.
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raker
07:38 AM on 01/18/2012
One of the many reasons I never go to movie theaters anymore is the commercials. They're infuriating.
12:54 AM on 01/18/2012
Word on the street is that the 'Hugo' screening was actually ruined by the film 'Hugo.'
01:33 PM on 01/18/2012
lmao uber! Perfect comment is perfect:)
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zorro869
12:35 AM on 01/18/2012
This is what you get when you fire all the projectonists and go with automated systems, or hire 17 year old kids for minimum wage to load the "film". The stupid studios and theatres wonder why we torrent our content, void of commercials and FBI warnings and watch it in our Home Theatres, devoid of all the upselling, disrespectful patrons, and dirty conditions.

I went to a screening of a film I worked on last night. The first bad sign was I had to buy the ticket, that's another story. I order tickets online, and almost get guilted into pre-buying concessions. Really? I have to predict my hunger and thirst levels a week beforehand and buy your overpriced junk? I don't think so When I get to the theater and go to sit down, I stop before reaching the middle, because that seat looks like a rabid cat attacked it. It was disgusting. I can't believe the theater expected someone to sit there. This is the state of theatres. They should have never broken the monopoly of Production/Projection because 99.9% of theatres are absolute crap, and I refuse to go to them.
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alyseven
Religion is the root of all evil.
12:12 AM on 01/18/2012
Considering the fact that the audience was laughing hysterically, I'd probably not use the word "irate" to describe what went down. Especially, considering there is video of it...
11:20 PM on 01/17/2012
Another problem I have with the theatre is that they often threaten you with imprisonment for what this patron did to bring you this story.
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MikeDu
Both salubrious and lugubrious concurrently.
07:09 PM on 01/17/2012
I remember going to a movie and the film breaking at the start. The management offered a refund or we could simply wander into whichever other movie was currently playing. So I wandered in cold to an obsucre little film called "The Matrix"
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11:33 PM on 01/17/2012
I had a similar experience when Raider of the Lost Ark came out. I thought I was going to see a documentary about the search for Noah's Ark. Boy was I surprised (and delighted)!
05:47 PM on 01/17/2012
Good Article