Cinema-goers had admitted to checking their phone up to 13 times during a film
There are few things more rage-inducing in the cinema or theatre than when someone whips out their smartphone. When actor Orlando Bloom was in Killer Joe at Trafalgar Studios last year, he told an audience member to “Put that f****** iPad away now,” after she tried to film the play on her device.
Cinema chain Odeon is trialling a new way to encourage people to switch off their devices and focus on the big screen in front of them, with the UK’s first phoneless screenings at the Greenwich outpost.
The cinema has installed 60 charging phone lockers at Odeon Greenwich so cinema-goers can securely lock their devices away during the film throughout the month of December. The films the service is available for include Frozen 2, Jumanji: The Next Level – both out now – as well as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which is out on December 19.
Given the significance of the final Star Wars instalment, god forbid whoever tries to sneak a look at their device during one of the screenings.
Ahead of implementing the trial, the cinema chain carried out a survey that found one-third of cinemagoers admit to checking their phone up to nine times during a film. In a 120-minute long film, the average length of screenings, that works out to checking your device every 13 minutes. At the moment, people are only encouraged to put their devices away, it isn’t mandatory. However, if the trials go well then Odeon says it may look at specific phoneless screening options for those who don’t want to be disturbed by the telltale blue glow of a phone.
formerly Mad Cornish Projectionist.