Movie theatres in Spain vs. in the US

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the movie theatres here in Madrid. First, I noticed that most movie theatres offer American and foreign movies, and very few of them show Spanish movies. Then I noticed that these American and foreign movies are all dubbed in Spanish with the exception of a few movie theatres that show them in their original language. The first movie I saw in Spain was J. Edgar. We had no idea that the movie would be in Spanish and without any subtitles. Thankfully we were all fluent in Spanish and could understand the movie. But what caught my attention most was the lack of advertisements before the movie. While in the United States there is usually a 30-45min commercial bracket before the movie starts, in Spain there are zero commercials before the movie. This made me wonder how Spaniards advertise what movies they will be showing in the recent future. I've seen a lot of print advertisements for movies in bus stops and the metro but never in the actual theater. I think having a commercial segment where movie goers can see what movies are coming next is a good idea since it makes it easier for movie producers to reach their target audiences, demonstrate clips from the movie to get them excited about it, and let them know when the movie is coming out. Spanish movie theatres also only offer 2-5 films while American theaters tend to offer 6-10. Another difference I noticed between Spanish and American movie theaters is that the seats in Spanish cinemas are assigned. When I first went to the movies here, my friends and I had no idea the seats would be assigned and so we bought our tickets separately and had to sit separately. There is also an usher in Spanish theaters that takes you to your seat. The fact that seats are assigned in Spanish theaters makes watching a movie an experience, as if you're about to see a theatrical production in person. Yet it can also be a bit annoying because that means you have to buy your tickets earlier in order to get good seats and to be seated with the people you are going with.

Movie theater in Callao, Madrid