throwing 1,000 punches per day in his training.
Warner Bros. has other big summer releases to promote, like Dunkirk. But the studio decided to hold a special screening event on Friday just for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword called "King for a Day." The event included free preview screenings of the movie at 200 AMC Theaters locations. With the event now in the rearview mirror, Warner Bros. is surely excited to know that it practically exceeded expectations.
As reported by Deadline, the "King for a Day" event drew over 30,000 attendees across the 200 participating AMC Theaters locations. AMC had originally planned to host screenings at only 150 theaters, but added another 50 after RSVPs grew beyond expectations. Some attendees were even turned away after showings reached capacity, but were given es to later screenings for their troubles. Additionally, Yahoo Movies recently unveiled a new image from King Arthur focusing on the titular character holding his legendary sword, Excalibur. Take a look:
Attendees at the King Arthur preview screenings received limited-edition hats and posters from the movie. Deadline also reported on another interesting piece of marketing for the movie, called the "King Arthur 360 Sword in the Stone" tour. The installation has already popped up in New York, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, and Sao Paulo, and will appear in Los Angeles in time for the movie's official world premiere on May 8 at Hollywood's famed Chinese Theatre.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is certainly off to a good start as far as buzz is concerned. Warner Bros. has to be thrilled with the massive turnout at Friday's preview screenings for the movie, which is one of the year's more unheralded summer offerings. The most anticipated movies of the year.
Of course, it remains to be seen how the movie itself turned out. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is one of the most anticipated releases of the summer season, but it's also one of the year's riskiest box office bets with its reported budget of $102 million. Legend of the Sword has some serious competition for viewers when it hits theaters next month, but the big success of the "King for a Day" screenings shows that moviegoers have not forgotten about King Arthur.
Next: 2017 Summer Movie Preview
Source: Deadline, Yahoo Movies
