By For students wanting to experience blockbuster movies without spending an arm and a leg on expensive theater tickets, Associated Students Inc.’s free Movies on the House event returns for another semester bringing some of the summer’s hottest film releases with it.
Last week marked the beginning of Movies on the House with a two-day screening of DC Comic’s summer hit, “Wonder Woman,” at the University Student Union’s Beach Auditorium.
Students who weren’t able to make it out for “Wonder Woman” last week can look forward to other blockbuster films such as “Baby Driver,” “Girls Trip,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Dunkirk” and the reboot of Stephen King’s “It.”
Each film will offer a Wednesday and Thursday screening with showtimes at 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Hosted by Beach Pride Events, ASI’s event and entertainment branch, Movies on the House organizers purchase popular films through international film distributor Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. By licensing the content, Swank is able to distribute films that are still in theaters to non-theatrical markets such as college campuses.
“[Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. doesn’t] benefit from this,” said Beach Pride Event’s program assistant Latifah Edobor. “We just pay the fee for the movies and we don’t have to share the money we make with them.”
While anyone with a valid student ID is able to attend for free, non-students will be charged a $5 fee. On top of money made from non-students, popcorn and other snacks are made available for purchase, with the proceeds going toward ASI’s budget.
Edobor, a senior communication studies major, has been in charge of continuing the decade-long tradition for the last two years.
“ASI is run by students for students and we knew that [movies] are something students love to see, so we thought we could provide them with a little extra [incentive to see the movies] by making it free,” Edobor said.
“Students really love [Movies on the House] and that is why we always bring it back,” Edobor said. “It’s one of those things they never really expect to happen on a school campus.”
To select the films, Edobor sent out surveys to students who attended screenings last spring asking what genre of films they would like to see.
After gathering that information, Edobor then sent out another survey with specific movie titles related to the most sought-after genre, animated tending to be the most popular. However, with no animated box office successes like “Moana” or “Frozen” this summer, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” will be shown instead.
While Michael Scaboo, a junior business marketing major, has seen every movie on this semester’s roster except for “Girl’s Trip,” he is excited to reexperience the movie magic on campus.
“I’ve never been to Movies on the House before, but I’ll definitely enjoy watching them again,” Scaboo said. “Especially for free.”
