Cinemas across the U.S. are preparing to see the return of the double features film experience. The motion picture phenomenon is being revived by Paramount Pictures, who will be showing Star Trek: Into Darkness and World War Z back to back in selected theatre venues from 30th August to 5th September.
Both films have performed well at the box office since their release, leading Paramount to announce the news of their double feature on Tuesday, despite the summer film season almost being over. Star Trek: Into Darkness and World War Z reached the sixth and seventh position respectively as the highest-grossing movie releases of the summer. Iron Man 3 takes the top spot.
J.J. Abram’s Into Darkness film was released in May 2013 as a follow up to his 2009 Star Trek reboot. Production on the film cost Paramount $190 million, and the film grossed a total of $227.4 million domestically. Although successful, Abram’s original Star Trek title performed better, grossing $30 million more, inspiring a slot game on MoneyGaming and sparking renewed Trekkie fever across the globe.
World War Z has grossed almost $200 million domestically following its release in July. This is a successful market performance, considering that Paramount and their three financial partners spent nearly $200 million on making the film, following costly reshoots.
A theatre in Rhode Island has already started offering punters the double feature tickets, at a cost of $10.50. Both titles have a combined running time of 239 minutes and will be available to view in 3D.
Paramount previously experimented with ticket offers for World War Z. In June, certain cinemas across the US advertised a ‘mega ticket’ for $50. This gave the ticket holder access to the showing of the film, as well as concessions, merchandise and a HD copy of the title’s DVD release.
According to Paramount, a sequel to World War Z is currently in the works.