Bay City Cinemas manager Justin Chaney is gearing up for a busy week as 50 Shades of Grey premieres in Tauranga.
Bay City Cinemas manager Justin Chaney is gearing up for a busy week as 50 Shades of Grey premieres in Tauranga.
Filling a cinema with 140 people keen to see the upcoming 50 Shades of Grey film was no problem for Papamoa woman Pamela Sheahan as popularity for the film takes off.
The Sunday fundraiser evening at Rialto Cinema was sold out in a week along with a "Chicks at theFlicks" screening at Tauranga's Bay City Cinemas tomorrow, with other sessions filling up fast.
Pamela Sheahan (left) says it was easy to sell 140 tickets to a Sunday screening of 50 Shades of Grey.
Bay City Cinemas manager Justin Chaney said ticket sales were strong in the week leading up to tomorrow's premiere, with the cinema opening pre-sales last Tuesday.
Pre-sales would only open a week in advance for big films such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or the Avengers, he said.
The R18 rating put on 50 Shades of Grey was higher than he had expected, "so maybe it's more explicit than we were thinking," he said.
He expected all the sessions to sell out by the time they screened but said the 'Chicks at the Flicks' screening had been most popular so far.
"This weekend is quite well booked," he said, adding that Valentine's Day may have contributed to Saturday session ticket sales. He would monitor ticket sales this week to see if extra screenings were needed.
Mrs Sheahan said 90 per cent of the 140 tickets she sold for a screening at Rialto on Sunday were going to women.
"There were a lot of people who wanted to go to the movie but didn't feel confident to go on their own but were keen to come along with a big group," she said.
"We sold all 140 tickets in a week." The fundraiser was for her husband's football team. A small number of men were "brave" enough to go along.
