This Is The Least Crowded Day (And Time) To See A Movie In Theaters

If you’re obsessed with heading to the local cinema when no one else is, you might be wondering when you’re least likely to be sharing a theater with other people. It can be a fun experience to enjoy a film alongside other moviegoers — but sometimes, you just want a little peace and quiet (or the chance to find good seats without showing up an hour early).

First of all, you need to know your local theaters’ discount days. You might think that any weekday (besides Friday) is going to be an easy bet for an empty theater, but that’s not actually the case. Many major movie theater chains offer significantly discounted movie tickets weekly on Tuesdays, which means the theaters are more likely to be crowded on these days.

Weekends and Fridays, naturally, tend to be crowded all day long, morning and night. If you need to go on a weekend in order to make your movie at all, then Sunday night will always be your best bet. Generally speaking, the later it is on a Sunday, the less crowded your theater will be.

However, the two absolute best days to visit the theater are Monday and Wednesday (provided you’re not going to an independent theater that offers discounted tickets during one of these days). These days tend to have fewer crowds visiting both day and night.

Want to go even further? The best time for a movie on Monday or Wednesday is a matinee showing. Specifically, you’ll want to have a movie start time scheduled right around 11am for the best results. Too close to the evening, and you’ll get the moviegoer crowd that’s just getting off work. 

Later matinee showings are another potential time you might not see many moviegoers heading to the theater, but the early weekday slots are much less booked-up. Keep in mind that this also means some theaters will only have limited selections of movies during these unpopular times, so this could change your plans a bit.

If you’re dedicated to visiting your theater at night, the other option for you is to try and go as late in the night as possible, heading to the last showing your theater offers. Especially on a weekday, these later showings tend to have fewer visitors. This is especially true if your movie of choice is appropriate for all ages, as younger audiences tend to stop visiting before the last showing.

Lastly, don’t forget to check the release dates of popular movies. These will usually occur on a Friday or weekend, but some limited-release showings will have different release dates. Additionally, some movies that are extremely popular may cause crowds to show up all throughout the first week (or two) of the movie’s release consistently, no matter what day it is. Showing up on a weekday morning will always be your best bet, but just keep in mind that if you truly want the theater to yourself when watching a popular film, you should probably wait a few weeks for the hype to die down.