Column: Where Did Movie Theater Intermissions Go?

Written by Pat's Papers | Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:07 AM

A blockbuster idea is presented in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning: bring back movie theater intermissions. The number of films that clock in around three hours is growing. So why not give viewers some time to go to the bathroom? The paper says theater owners would like to have the option because they could sell more concessions but that their contracts with Hollywood studios forbid intermissions. And it’s more than just the population’s bladders that are at risk: “The new 3D epics are even more draining, adding eye strain to the trials of sitting in one place and focusing on one object for 180 minutes.”

Writer Peter Hartlaub cites a funny Chronicle article from 2003 where reporters interviewed fans sprinting from the theater to the bathroom during a screening of the “Lord of the Rings.”

And speaking of bathroom breaks, check out the graph we got our hands on during the Winter Olympics. It shows that Canadians could’ve used an intermission during the hockey final as well.