Stories From the Poster Room: What Movie Theaters Were Really Told to Do With Promotional Materials

As I might have said in the past, I worked in a movie theater from 1990 to 2000. It was a fun job. The pay was not great, but we got to see movies before they came out. We got posters, tshirts and buttons. Sometimes, we even had a promotion where the actual actors appeared. My first couple of weeks saw the arrival of Days of Thunder. We were lucky enough to host a premiere in Raleigh, NC. I guess because the movie filmed in NC. Michael Rooker actually appeared. Unfortunately, I could not meet or see him. I was in the concession stand in the theater. They brought out a car from the movie. It was a whole event. Getting posters was a high point. Sometimes, they movie corporations got a little touchy about promotional materials. A case in point is Star Wars Episode 1. They were so worried about people selling posters and other materials that they requested all materials be returned or destroyed. I was lucky enough to get a teaser poster of Annikan with the Darth Vader shadow. Our corporation was told that if we did not send back the materials, Banners, trailers, we could affect future bookings of the sequels. They were playing hardball with that one. Just imagine if Ebay was as big back then. If it existed in '97, it was in its infancy. They did notify theaters that the posters could be track by a serial number. I wonder if theaters were put on the black list for selling their stuff?