Wolverine Tickets: Get In Line Now

By Jonathan McNamara Fri., Apr. 24 2009 at 7:46 PM

Categories: Up On Sun

So you didn't get your tickets to the world premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, huh? Good news, bub: You can get in line with everyone else at Harkins Theater at Tempe Marketplace right now and hope you're one of the first 500 to get tickets when they hand them out at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

For more details, check out the Harkins Theater site.

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Harkins Theaters, Tempe Marketplace, Wolverine

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It was ridiculous, I called harkins numerous times to make sure what time to be there. They said anone there before 9 would be asked to leave. They said they were going to only be giving out 500 tickets yet they gave out more? the hell?
Personally I did not stand in line for this event because one: I knew it was going to be crazy and two: I can wait to see it AFTER the premiere when all this craziness has passed but for you people boo-hoo'ing and whining about how you were "stiffed"... deal with it!!! The website may have said that the line started at a certain time but this is a major event people will always show up early to try and get in line first. That's the way it always is for big releases like video games, movies, or concert tickets. Show up early or go home empty handed. As for security... yes they should have been more prepared for a crowd this size but I'm not going to bash them or Harkins for it and complain that they have to give me something because I didn't show up first. For the people who got there hours early to be in line first... I salute you. You were smart enough to show up early and deserve your passes. Have fun!
I feel for everyone that followed the rules and "lost out". I personally only got ONE ticket because of the Monday giveaway, so I /was/ going to line up for an extra ticket for my son (who was in school at noon on Monday, so he couldn't get a ticket for himself) You would think that if there were give 2 to the first 250 in line, those of us that showed up Monday would have gotten 2 as well... right? Who wants to go to a premiere (and one of this magnitude) ALONE?! (BTW those who didn't get a notification to claim their ticket, I guess Harkins only sent emails, because my b-friend and I never received a phone call. And I never got an email. The only way I knew I had a ticket (and how to claim it) was because my b-friend got his "winner" email. So I took a chance and asked if I was also on the list (when we went to pick up his), even though I didn't have an email. They checked and I was. (yay!) Apparently yahoo email account holders were having difficulties and A LOT didn't receive an email. (So why no back-up phone call?) I hope that other yahoo people got their tickets and they weren't just put back into circulation with the rest) Sorry I digress... When I showed up at 8:00 to see if I even had a "shot" at standing in line and getting a ticket, I had heard about the fiasco from people leaving in the parking lot. Sooo, I hung around a bit to see how Harkins would handle the situation. For the record, I did suggest to one of the employees of Harkins that I conversated with, that I didn't see a problem with them letting everyone line up (for safety issues) and I TOTALLY understood their reasoning... /BUT/ since OBVIOUS rules were disregarded and broken, that they [Harkins] should have gotten one of those carnival roll of tickets and passed one out to EVERYONE that was there in line by 9 (this includes those that showed up when they were supposed to) Then do a "lottery" using those tickets to determine each person's place in line. That way, NONE of the rule-breakers were technically rewarded and those who did follow the rules would have an equal shot at getting a "lucky" place in line... Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that would be the most fair and logical solution. And would not put Harkins in such a bad spot right now. The employee I talked to was not one who could make those decisions, as he explained to me. He did, think it was a considerable possibility, but I guess that was never relayed to the person that could make that decision. When I helped organize the "camp out" we had for the LOTR marathon at AZ mills, we gave out numbered wristbands a few hours earlier than the official line up time (2 per physical person) to avoid people loitering until the official line up time, it worked for us, but I KNOW that this event is in no way comparable to that, but it was still organized. We [line party group] promised Harkins that we would keep it orderly, and we did (and we are just your average movie-going fans). So it can be done! Again, I'm sorry. It sucks! I talked to a lot of people last night and it sucked so bad for them, I left wishing there was something I could've done. Oh well.
I was one of the 2,000+ who was turned away on Friday night from getting tickets to the Wolverine premiere. I don't understand why, at that time, the 500 pairs of tickets couldn't have been given away at 9:00 pm, instead of making all those people wait in line all night. What good did that do? Been easier for crowd control, for the people involved to just have received their tickets the night before. Monday afternoon, the 500 people attended were given a ballot to complete to win pairs of tickets, and I don't believe that one person who completed this ballot was ever contacted to win a pair. I think that balloting should have been done all week, and all tickets should have been drawn on Friday from this balloting. Yes, the whole thing could have been better handled, but maybe next time... what's that? Sorry Dan, there isn't going to be a next time?
I had no intention of waiting in an insane line, and from the stories above, I'm glad I didn't try. It's unfortunate that people showed up early for the 9-o'clock line! I agree with one commenter that security was seriously lacking. I mean, don't businesses learn from Christmas when people got runned over trying to get into a Walmart? I think the next time to get free tickets for a premiere that it should be done in a lottery.
Scott your comment is both mundane and idiotic. This is a once in a lifetime chance for alot of these people seeing as these events take place mostly in CA and NY. I'm sure alot of the people who turned out for this event are doing thier part to help make our world a better place. Having a job and supporting our economy are very important things. This event helps to bring a spotlight on Tempe and can help bring further economic growth, a point that you are obviously to naive' to get. Sure everyone can wait to see this film but the point here was that the event was suppossed to run starting at 9pm which gave alot of hard working, honest people a chance for tickets without having to choose to miss work, lose pay, and possibly help further diminish a hurting economy. We as Americans are addicts to film and while this may be just a movie to you for some this is a small sliver of a break in the constant cycle of work and everyday life for some and everyone deserves that guilty pleasure every now and again. Ever heard of people going out? Yeah well they go see those "flippin movies" with people they care about and they have a generally good time while at the same time helping bring in economic support that helps pay theater employees and other vendors, filmakers, etc. So in closing maybe you are just one of those people who feels the need to overlook the positives in a situation but I'm hoping you are just a guy who overlooked the actual potential for this event and how much the travesty of what Harkins allowed has caused alot of good people to feel outed and decieved. To all of those who showed up at the correct time and waited just to be told you were cheated out of your chance to see this World Premiere I apologize and I do feel your anguish...there is no other way to call this other than that everyone was given "0" chance to get these tickets unless you chose to not follow the set rules and that by definition is being cheated and decieved.
Everyone here is complaining about the rules and how 'having a life' kept them from getting a ticket. Stop and riddle me this. If you 'have a life', then why do you need to be the first fanboy to see Wolverine? Go in a few weeks after you've finished making the world a better place like the rest of us. Sheesh. It's a flippin movie. Waaah.
<a href="http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2009/04/x-men_origins_wolverine_premie_1.php" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2009/04/x-men_origins_wolverine_premie_1.php</a> I was someone who read on the website for Harkins that the line would not be forming until 9PM on Friday. I showed up an hour and a half early only to find that they had already started lining people up, going against what they told everyone on their website. We were told that the police made them start lining up in order to clear the area for safety reasons. The problem is, all these people showed up much earlier than they were supposed to, and got rewarded for it. The police could have easily told them to disperse and clear the area for those who got there on time. So several Harkins employees told me they were sorry and there was nothing they could do. I explained to them, with emotion, that I understood I wouldn't be getting premiere tickets, but they could certainly have offered some type of comp tickets. They repeatedly refused to acknowledge what I was saying, and eventually someone came and told me to back off and that there would be no more conversation. Several other people showed up around 7, were told they couldn't line up yet, went to get food, then came back closer to the line up time only to find that there was a line already formed and wrapped around the building while they had waited somewhere else. I'm very unhappy with how things were handled, and that the hundreds of people who chose to do things correctly were rewarded with nothing while those who did things incorrectly were rewarded with tickets. It wasn't right, and it certainly wasn't fair. I know for a fact that there was definitely types of compensation they could have offered us, but they simply decided to refuse our requests and tell us we were out of luck. And to all those who showed up earlier than you should have, shame on you. The rules were clearly lined out on several websites and news sources, and those who decided to follow those rules were left out of luck for this once in a lifetime experience because you couldn't do things correctly. I'm sure that you don't care, because you got your tickets. I understand that it was more of a police matter, but I still hope that Harkins management or Dan Harkins himself reads this and is able to rectify a lot of these issues. But those wishes probably fall on deaf ears... I will go to see the movie on opening day just like everyone else, but I sure am let down with this turn of events. I cannot express enough my anger and displeasure with how things turned out tonight...
This was completely wrong. Telling people to arrive at a specified time and then turning them away because those that didn't listen got thier spots for exclusive tickets is not ethical at all. I personally called the theater at least 3-4 times to verify that this event would be held fairly by following the 9pm line up and not allowing early people who have no lives, work, or responsibilities to take advantage of others that do. My fiance' actually arrived for the Monday conference but had to leave early because our son was very ill and we recieved a phone call from our babysitter while we were waiting for the event to commence. We addressed that one of us would stay but that one of us needed to go home to attend to our child, a much higher priority, and the staff at Harkins told us they would talk to thier supervisors to see about me filling out her ballot. This was all before anyone knew about us getting tickets and we all thought the ballots were just for marketing, then after the announcement of everyone getting tickets and they would contact us via the ballot info I immediately approached the staff, was redirected, gave the management my fiance's information and told they would contact us...nothing happened. I called the main office for Harkins Theaters and was basically told that it was unfortunate but they would not be able to help in any way even though thier staff said they would but we could go to the theater on Friday at 9pm and possibly get another ticket that way. So cut to Friday, I'm at work until 9pm and I have my Fiance' go ahead of me to get into line and get her ticket only to arrive at 8:45pm and be told that they already had 500 people chosen for the line at 7:30pm and to go home... This is possibly the worst case of customer depreciation I have ever encounter w/ insane ammounts of redirection and blatant disregard for fairness. I also liked the fact that they never, even as of this post, updated the website to say that they screwed up. Sorry for the run on post but I wanted to show that this was a very large travesty and was not isolated to this Fridays event.
I would like to be the first to express my displeasure with the way things were handled at harkins tempe marketplace tonight. They started the line two hours early because of crowd control. We beat out 3,000 other cities, so shouldn't they have expected a large outcome and had the proper security. Instead, all the people who have jobs and lives and could not get there til 8 or 9 were not given a fair shot like the other people. Harkins really fell short tonight and it just proves we are not ready for such an honor.
that's so dumb that people started lining up at 7:30, instead of the scheduled 9:00. by 8:00, the 500 people was already hit. Harkins tried to stop people from lining up, but the Security over-rided them because the crowds were causing a fire hazard with the huge amount of people there. so they kinda forced them to line-up almost 2 hours early. it also didn't help that alot of the line attendees were under 15 without parents, thus breaking curfew. this was totally not fair at all to the honest people who followed the rules and wanted to line-up at 9:00, but instead get stiffed but the impatient people who got there early.