Do you know why films are released on a Wednesday at the cinema?

Historically, Friday was the day when films were released in cinemas, so as to guarantee that everything worked ahead of the Sunday showings, which attracted the biggest audiences. Gradually, this day was brought forward to Wednesday, in France and Belgium, before this policy was adopted in Luxembourg too in 2012: but no matter what day you decide to come and see us at the cinema, our online box office is at your service!

Historically, Friday was the day when films were released in cinemas

In the early days of the cinema, Friday was the day when films were released in cinemas.

It was the day chosen in the United States, for reasons that had to do with logistics: the people running the cinemas could receive the rolls of film and check them at the weekend, to make sure they would work properly on Sunday. In the 1920s, you were guaranteed to get a good audience on the only day of the week that wasn’t a working day.

In the years since then, Saturday became a day off for almost everyone, meaning that the whole weekend had a bigger impact on the box office. Whilst Friday is still the day for film releases in the US and the UK, other countries take a few liberties with this choice, like Italy and Germany, where films are released on a Thursday…

In France, in 1972, the big players in cinema overturned these codes and chose Wednesday as release day, taking the view that children were capable of being real drivers of growth. In due course Belgium adopted the same approach, in an effort to increase sales at its cinemas’ online box offices.

Luxembourg started releasing films on Wednesdays in 2012

It was not until 12 September, 2012 that the cinemas in Luxembourg aligned themselves with their French and Belgian neighbours once and for all and chose Wednesday as the day on which films were released.

The Fédération des exploitants (Federation of Operators) justified the change by stating that “an increasing number of films that are eagerly anticipated by audiences are shown as advance premieres or come out on the Wednesday before the normal release day, which has always been Friday in Luxembourg.”[1]

Today, with the widespread adoption of remote working and more flexible organisation, the online box offices used by cinemas can lead to excellent attendance figures several days a week. But Wednesday is undoubtedly a particularly good day for anyone who loves the cinema to come and discover the most hotly anticipated films…

[1] Quote: https://www.virgule.lu/culture/les-sorties-de-films-avancees-au-mercredi-au-luxembourg/64762.html

The online box office at the Kinepolis Luxembourg cinemas!

Kinepolis cinemas have an online box office, available 24 hours a day, to meet the needs of a busy public who want to find out what’s new each Wednesday as soon as possible.

A quick and easy service that adapts to suit all schedules and requirements, all the more so given that the tickets are valid for a year, at all three of its cinemas.

To ensure that the cinema is always a treat, no matter what day the films are released, free your staff from all constraints: get your tickets at our online box office, have them delivered to your company and give them out as a reward for good work or offer them at the preferential rates available, on a sliding scale, available for all large orders.

Accessible in a single click, the online box office used by Kinepolis’s cinemas is ready and waiting for you!