Alex Ullom’s debut feature It Ends will run on a 36-hour loop at NYC’s Metro Private Cinema in what Neon’s calling a theatrical endurance challenge timed to the release.
The film has an 87-minute run time, so that’s about 25 showings.The unique marketing move offers escalating cash payments to audience members based how long they stay put.
The Endless Screening: New York plays from 7 pm ET on Aug. 21 through 7 am ET Aug. 23 at the upscale new venue in Chelsea from Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League.
In Ullon’s film, a group of recent graduates heads out on a late-night drive for food, hoping to enjoy one final hangout before their paths diverge. Instead, they accidentally turn onto a never-ending, two-lane hellscape surrounded by untold horrors and cosmic forces beyond their understanding. Trapped together inside a Jeep Cherokee with the miles stretching infinitely ahead, they face a choice: embrace their new existence or fight it.
The Endless Screening invites four-person teams to a Last Person Standing competition, challenging them to remain inside the theater for the full 36-hours, with designated breaks throughout. Each group member will receive 25 cents for every minute they remain in the competition, up to $540 a person. If every member of a group makes it through the entire 36-hour marathon, each wins an additional $500.
Participants will also receive a $250 theater credit toward concessions during the marathon (excluding alcohol).
The contest is open to NYC residents 21 years of age or older. To enter, groups of four people must submit one video of up to a minute on Instagram (#ItEndsMarathonContest) “explaining why they have what it takes to go the distance,” Neon said. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. PT on Aug 17. Neon welcomes all interested independent theaters to partner.
The End, which world premiered at SXSW last year, stars Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, and Mitchell Cole. It’s produced by Carrie Carusone and Evan Barber. Opens in New York and L.A. Aug. 21 with a national expansion to follow.