Faces and crowds from "TNG Night at the Movies"

Did you go Monday night?

Actually the name was more like the "25th Anniversary TNG Event" and HD remastering showcase for two episodes and new features,  at theaters across the US, Canada and Australia. And yes, it was also a mega-marketing event to promote the formal release of the TNG Season 1 Blu-ray set the next day.

For most fans it was just a rare chance to see their TNG heroes on the big screen, pre-Generations, all dressed up and ready to shine.

It was last-minute, but on the afternoon of this CBS/Fantome event, I'd asked my tweeps and Faceboook Treklanders to snap and send pics from their movie sites. Part of this was my wondering if the question posed by the LA Times would turn out to be true, regarding any possible adverse box-office impact by the Aurora movie shootings at the TNG event.

There were hits and misses on the campics, but crowds also seemed to vary by area—and whether fans had perhaps too many choices for theaters in some markets, diluting numbers. Other sites were packed, according to anecdotal reports.

So, here's some images from all over—and thanks to those who sent in. Sadly, there's none from any of the mass sell-out crowds I've read about as well in Toronto and Orlando, to name a couple. As for my own, the Universal City IMAX was about 3/4 fuill of its 400, I'd say.

Send more, we'll add'em. (I'm lookin' at you, East Coasters & Upper Midwesterners).

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Seattle: "Full theater! We only laughed at the actually funny bits, I swear."—@gregharbin:

 "Our crowd at Regal 20 in Jacksonville, Fla."—@LorrieS68:

Full house in Emeryville, CA (Bay Area):(who sent me this? Let me know!):

"30 people in Cinemark16 in Myrtle Beach S.C."—@MrrWilly:

"We have a line. Perhaps 150 people (one costume)" in  Mira Mesa (outside San Diego)—@starfleetmom:

 

Theatre full for Star Trek 25th Anniversary Event: Albuquerque NM"—@MfaBfd:  

Las Vegas: "We had about 100, I would estimate, in my theater at the Orleans Hotel. It would have been better if CBS selected only 2 or 3 locations around Vegas instead of 5."—Paul Walker:

Myself and a couple of my Klingon Shipmates in Summerville, S.C.; we had about 70 people in a 240-seat theater. Small but raucous, happy crowd. "—Erika Yvette Figueroa / FB:

 






















And I suppose I need to include the AMC Universal Citywalk  Stadium 19 IMAX turnout: About 3/4 of the 400-some seats? I missed the lights-up pre-show time, but here's the after-show scramble about a minute after show's end:

PLUS: No pics, but thanks for these reports:


 "About 150 in 200-seat theater in Medford, only theatre in southern Oregon"— Paula Block &Terry Erdmann/ FB

"Sadly, no screening in Fargo, so I will live it vicariously through pics and RTs."—@ohtheprofanity

"Toronto's Yonge and Eglinton was sold out. I had to drive to the suburbs to get a ticket at another theatre!"—@robheydari

"The Burbank house was 3/4 full."—Barbara Watson/ FB

"150 or so in OKC"—Scott Johnson/ FB

"Three screenings in various theatres in Portland, Oregon - all three were sold out. Great crowd in the theatre I was in! Lots of costumes and cheering."—Anthony Wynn

"Larry, the theatre here in Orlando is packed. Will try to take a photo after."—@TrekRadio


Thanks to all who joined in to share, and enjoyed the evening!

Will CBS and NCM Fathom repeat for S2 and beyond, unlike the TOS Remastered kickoff event in theaters? Stay tuned ...

Day of tragedy: keep on keepin' on, fanfolks

UPDATE: Now the L.A. TImes has applied the chill of Aurora's monster attack on box office to the next pop-culture movie event, and wondered if it will impact final turnout for Monday's TNG 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray event nationwide.

Let's not let it happen.
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You don't have to be from another country, or speak another language with a different skin tone, to be a "terrorist."
We do think of Timothy McVeigh and his rental truck-bourne fertilizer bomb as the chief example of our domestic variety, but get back to the root of the word, according to the Nemecek Dictionary: "one who causes terror, chiefly with the intention of instilling fear and disruption of daily routine." No, we don't know everything yet about onetime medical student and careful plotter/boobytrapper James Eagan Holmes—but we do know that he apparently acted alone.

Yes, a crazed solo act, one that can carry just as much mass wallop as a full-bore death squad when it comes to "instilling terror"—intended or not.

Bottom line: Talk to your kids, reassure them... and by god don't be scared away from seeing The Dark Knight Rises ... or ANY movie of your choice this weekend.

What's more, watch out for the demagogues on this: Not those who argue the gun issue either way (sadly inevitable), but anyone who might happen to try to connect up the motive dots using anyone in costume, or even genre fans of all stripes—from Trek to any comic superhero, and beyond. One pundit on MSNBC already likened the shooter's state of mind or personality today to a "dark, Trekkie-like person." WTF? Just like the way innocent gamers, or any current hobby or craze that sweeps up the "impressionable young," gets blamed for "corrupting" some heinous perpetrator's mental health into a state of mass killing.

Nope, the vehicle—in this case, Batman and its dark core, or the chaos cover provided by a bevy of costumed, innocent superhero fans—is not the end-all, be-all "cause." Sick minds and broken psyches have always been with us, sadly, but what we do know is those determined to act out will find a channel for their actions, one way or another. It doesn't matter which one they latch onto from pop culture or any passing parade: anything out there in our rich culture can provide the wrong kind of imagery fodder—no matter how some may try to blame or sensationalize it in hindsight. You take away one, the irrational will just find another.

So this weekend—go see Batman. Or see ANY movie. Pack the theaters, and malls, and anywhere you like with all the bodies of friends and family you can. Go in costume if you like, proudly. And pack your costumes for Vegas Khaaan, or wherever it is you fly your harmless and healthy freak flag.

Just don't let the terrorist win.