ICYMI: The Batman v Superman IMAX Event at Opry Mills

You know how the old phrase goes: What happens at the IMAX premiere of a seconds-long addition to an already released trailer ... well, lasts for a few seconds.

Bat-Fans and Super-Fans alike flooded Opry Mills’ IMAX theater Monday evening to catch what literally amounted to a fraction of a scene from the hotly anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I, your intrepid Scene correspondent and Southeastern trailer premiere expert, ventured out with the die-hards to this lavish display of sanguine seconds, journaling each step as I went along.

But first, a little history. Last Wednesday, BvS director Zack Snyder announced via Twitter the chance to catch the first glimpse of the film in sterling IMAX projection. I jumped at the opportunity, mostly because of old regrets that I missed the Dark Knight Rises opening scene IMAX premiere of December 2011. (The folks who went got a free T-shirt — A FREE T-SHIRT.) With dreams of a Batman/Superman mixed logo proudly displayed on my chest, I sent in my RSVP.

Then the trailer leaked.

Somebody somewhere (maybe the same guy who spoiled Howard the Duck’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy last summer) leaked a recording of the Batman v Superman teaser before the planned Monday public IMAX premiere. Warner Brothers had no choice but to get the non-recorded version out for the hungry public (right in the middle of Star Wars hype, nonetheless).

So with the trailer already a click away on YouTube, what point was there to travel all the way out to the local IMAX to attend this event? Four words: extra footage and swag. Snyder promised a longer version of the teaser, as well as a few free goodies.

So: there I went, and here’s what happened, broken down by time (the show started at 7):

5:55 p.m.: I arrive about an hour early, hoping maybe to run to the food court and grab some grub and look around the mall a little. After all, who in the world is going to show up for this thing anyway? I expected about 15 at the most. No reason to get there early. But I see a dude in Batman apparel walking in at the same time. “Oh, no,” I think. I look ahead. There are 25-30 people already lined up for this thing. I’m going to have to get in line now, aren’t I? Surely not. Surely not. I’ll just walk around a while, let the line build — I doubt there will be too many …

6 p.m.: I’m in line an hour early for an event that will last roughly one-sixth of the amount of time I wait for it. I guess it’s worse when you go to a theme park and wait three hours to ride a ride that literally lasts 30 seconds. At least I have air conditioning. And it’s free! And Batman! Do this for the Caped Crusader, Woodroof.

A guy from the theater is coming around now, making sure everyone knows that this event isn’t actually a screening of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — just a trailer. I instantly begin to feel bad for the people who possibly came tonight thinking they were going to see this major a movie nearly a year in advance in IMAX for free.

6:03 p.m.: This time, a woman comes around and says the same thing the first dude did. This is not Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Just a six-minute trailer. Imaginary guy who thought this was the actual movie frowns in sadness. I frown, too, because I thought this was 15 minutes, not six.

6:08 p.m.: Well, that was fast. They’re already letting folks in. The line has gotten longer from the time I got there. Well over 50 people by this point. Gracious. At least we get to sit down?

6:13 p.m.: I’m in my seat — No. 10 in the back row, my favorite area to sit in. I tripped up the stairs coming in and tried to play it off to the people who saw me eat it going up the IMAX steps.

The Twitter reports about giving out free tickets to next year’s BvS premiere are true. Everyone who attends tonight’s shindig gets a free ticket to a week-in-advance IMAX premiere of the movie next year. Two things: One, that’s a cool gesture to the folks who ventured out to see an extended teaser trailer. Two, it’s only one ticket per person, so if you went by yourself (raises hand) and want to see this movie early for free in IMAX (who wouldn’t?) but also enjoy sharing movies with others, too bad. Not as bad as tripping up stairs, though.

6:23 p.m.: I send a Tweet out about the grandness of the IMAX screen while I listen to the movie radio thing playing over the speakers. No one favorites the Tweet. Cory sad.

6:25 p.m.: Learned from movie radio that Tyrese Gibson (Fast and Furious movies) has four Grammy nominations. Good for him! They played a few seconds of his new song. I think, since Furious 7 is playing in this IMAX and this radio thing plays the same stuff over and over again, Tyrese Gibson fans will be in for a treat if they arrive early.

6:30 p.m.: There are a lot of people here. I had a funny thought in my head that it’d be me and another dude, and we’d look at each other and share a laugh and walk out with like 10 IMAX posters each. So much for that.

6:45 p.m.: The top part of the IMAX seating is just about 75 percent accounted-for. This thing lasts six minutes. Why are there so many people here? Why am I here? Why does the radio thing play the same three or four song snippets over and over again? What was Tyrese Gibson nominated for at the Grammys? Am I going to trip again on the way out?

6:55 p.m.: Okay, here we go. Final announcements. We all get two different posters after the trailer. No T-shirts. Oh well. Different person comes up and tells us not to record this with our phones. They’ll be watching. I’ll be watching this extended trailer I drove 30 minutes to see.

7 p.m.: The lights dim. Showtime.

7:10 p.m.: I’m walking to my car with my free posters in hand. It’s already over. The sun is still out.

The trailer itself was literally — and I mean literally — just a few seconds added on at the end. We start out, after a pre-taped welcome from Synder, watching the teaser trailer again on the big screen. It’s a cool teaser, but I’ve already seen it. Looks great in IMAX, though. I keep looking for the “new stuff,” and when the title card pops up, I become slightly worried this is it and that I must have missed something. But, then, blammo, new stuff. The brand-new clip is the coolest thing about the whole teaser: Batman starts to run, Superman starts to run, they charge at each other — and boom, over.

As if the title “Batman VERSUS Superman” wasn’t an inclination that they were going to fight, they’re going to fight. Maybe some thought this might be a legal drama where the fighting was in the courtroom (A Few Good Supermen?). I hope this cleared things up. Nevertheless, that was a cool few seconds, no doubt about it. Batman is going to fight Superman in IMAX next year. Hard to be upset about that.

After the first viewing, there was a little IMAX info from Snyder, a Snyder plea not to film and post this new addition publicly, the teaser again (charging scene still awesome) — and that’s all, folks.

So if you’ve ever wondered what happens at an extended trailer premiere, that’s about it. Maybe the next one will have shirts ...