When Brad Pitt caused a walk-out

Dani Siller, Bill Sunderland and Matt Parker discuss a question about when Brad Pitt caused people to walk out at the cinema.
LATERAL is a weekly podcast about interesting questions and even more interesting answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit www.lateralcas...
GUESTS:
Dani Siller: ‪@consumethismedia‬, / escthispodcast
Bill Sunderland: ‪@consumethismedia‬, / escthispodcast
Matt Parker: ‪@standupmaths‬, / standupmaths
HOST: Tom Scott.
QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe.
RECORDED AT & EDITED BY: The Podcast Studios, Dublin.
EDITOR: Julie Hassett.
GRAPHICS SYSTEM & DESIGN: Chris Hanel at Support Class.
GRAPHICS ASSISTANCE: Dillon Pentz.
MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com).
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Josh Halbur, Ben Justice, Lewis Tough, Arun Uttamchandani, Eglė Vaškevičiūtė.
FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
© Pad 26 Limited (www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2022.

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Yep, a friend of mine made a point of going to see A Phantom Menace with *ZERO* prior knowledge. He did the opposite - he was one of the people that walked out of other movies until the trailers were over.

[@cybergeek11235]

funny enough, i did that (back in the beforetimes, when it was actually safe to go to a movie theater) for every film i saw since trailers *always* spoil something.

[@sammarks9146]

That was going to be my guess to this question, when they said it was something to do with the Star Wars trailer- that people were walking out because they didn't want any spoilers!

[@FindecanorNotGmail]

I shut my eyes and covered my ears in the movie theatre. It was hell for nine months. I was in college, and people played the trailer on the college computers.... I had learned how the trailer sounded at the beginning, and had to leave the room quickly. Got a magazine, saw a picture: Oh, this looked interesting: what is it? STAR WARS!! and did not read the rest of the magazine.

[@KenLieck]

@@sammarks9146 ironically I went to see Phantom Menace with about 10 of my friends, and the only reason I didn't walk out of that piece of crap was because I figured everybody else was enjoying it. Afterwards it turned out that all nine of the others felt the same way I did, but didn't walk out because *they* figured the rest of us were enjoying it!

[@ymeynot0405]

My high school English teacher (who had an Obi-wan standee in his class) arranged for all of his seniors to ditch school and watch it with him and his wife at 8 am the day it came out. We still love you Mr. Ferrari.

[@samuelturner6076]

Your teacher is awesome.

[@daerdevvyl4314]

With a name like Ferrari he has to be cool.

[@petertaylor4980]

I went to the cinema with a friend to see Troy, and we were both quite surprised when the trailer for Troy was shown. Then the film started with an incredibly violent scene and we realised it was Kill Bill 2. Our tickets weren't for the same day but for a month in the future, and neither we nor the person checking the tickets had noticed.

[@Drummin003]

The time frame being 1998 is immediately why I thought that SW:Episode I was probably the culprit. I was on the other end though thinking that people were walking out during the trailers so they didn't get anything about the movie spoiled by the trailer, and then returning to the movie after the trailers were over.

[@specific_protagonist]

Great work with the subtitles as always.

[@OwenRalph]

6:07 I'm a similar age to Dani and had a very similar opinion of the film at the time! No intention at all of watching it as an adult and realising how awful it actually is

[@Carhill]

I was 9. loved it. Still love it, even with the quirkiness. Between John Williams' score, Podracing, Darth Maul, and droidekas I don't think I'll ever not enjoy the film.

[@PassiveDestroyer]

I remember endlessly making fun of Jar Jar Binks as a kid. Like the rest of the movie was great, but he deserved to be made fun of. Then again, I was 10. I'm not gonna watch it now.

[@ymeynot0405]

There is at date. Some thing like 1988, in which they have found to be a cut off line between people who love and hate the prequels. Everyone before that date hates them because they grew up with the originals and were old enough to care about plot. And the people who were born after that date who were young and the old movies had no real importance in their lives. Some college kids in the late 2000s did a global english survey as their final project for a marketing major for USC.

[@beth12svist]

​@@ymeynot0405I'm slightly older than your cutoff date but I didn't grow up with the originals because Iron Curtain and stuff. Went to see Phantom Menace with my mum, just the two of us, and held hands through the pod race, and therefore it will always be special and nostalgic.

[@JennaGetsCreative]

Tom said "Duel of the Fates" and that's stuck in my head now.

[@LotsOfS]

As someone who dislikes trailers, the concept of going out of my way to watch one is very weird to me.

[@andrew-m]

Revisited this one tonight, and since no one said it in the comments: one major movie mix-up occurred in 2015 when instead of "Inside Out" some theaters showed "Insidious: Chapter 3" - the former is an animated coming-of-age film, the latter is a supernatural horror film.

[@kostiemuirhead8187]

Being of similar vintage to Matt, as soon as he mentioned being a nerd and the timeframe, I immediately remembered the lengths people went through to see Phantom Menace trailers.

[@stingersplash]

I've just listened to this question on the podcast for the first time and I immediately said Mighty Joe Young! Both films were in cinemas around Christmas 1998 so I can see some being confused. I remember my brother saying he saw Mighty Joe Young and I said "the one with Brad Pitt?" and he said "no it had a gorilla though". Ever since then I've gotten the two confused. Never watched either!

[@anonymousperson2327]

full episodes on youtube please

[@SenshiSunPower]

They will do that once the crew gets paid.

[@anonymousperson2327]

@@SenshiSunPower oh I hadn't actually thought of that, why would they get more money this way, both podcasts and KZbin give money by advertising and surely if they were on youtuber they would get more views. Also I think it's a shame that there are no subtitles or transcripts for the audio only episodes but I guess that's extra work too, I hadn't thought about how this all works

[@outbakjak]

​@@anonymousperson2327 there are transcripts for every single episode on the Lateral website :)

[@erictaylor5462]

In 1989 thousands of baseball fans showed up for a baseball game in Oakland but the all the fans left after the game was canceled. Everyone was badly shaken up.

[@dilbert719]

I am so annoyed at how close I was. Remembered why people were there and left, misremembered what they actually came to see. (Had it in my head it was for The Matrix, which also could have been it, since that released a few weeks prior to TPM.)

[@donaldoconner]

Tom, I understand you want to build an audience outside of KZbin, but maybe releasing the video episodes weeks or months after the podcast releases?

[@stingersplash]

But then people will just wait. I'm happy with the podcasts. These episodes don't really need visuals.

[@tonypang83]

I guess a food analogy would be when McDonald's release some kind of limited edition toy etc with happy meals. I remember news stories of people stocking up on happy meals, then just throwing the food directly into bins and keeping the free toy thing. 🙄

[@KenLieck]

Guessed this one immediately. But I have a great story about Meet Joe Black. I had been corresponding online with Ron Osborne (who co-wrote the movie with his long-time writing partner Jeff Reno) because he would come online as a writer for the great Duckman animated series and chat with fans. He was nervous about how the movie would do because it's incredibly long, and I told him "Hey, I can go to the preview if you'd like and report back how the audience reacts." He said that would be great and I did that and the audience seemed to enjoy the film and nobody walked out (during the movie, anyway!) So he was happy to hear that. He then told me he especially appreciated my effort because he was kind of bummed out, as he had just been fired from his other TV job by the producer, a young whippersnapper named Rob Thomas (who would later on become famous as the creator of Veronica Mars). I happen to know Rob from way back, so I called him up at his Hollywood home next door to Britney Spears's house and asked him about the situation. Then I sent another message to Ron saying "Hey man -- Rob says he loves you guys and he never would fire you! That decision came from higher up." And he just about crapped his pants, because he had no idea why this oddball Duckman fan from Austin, Texas was calling his (ex)boss at home in his 8 million dollar brand new Hollywood mansion!!! I love it when the world gets small like that!

[@GuanoLad]

I got to see the trailer as a special event, because my friend worked at the local cinemas and got me a seat at the staff screening.

[@chesshead]

I never enjoyed Star Wars but for some reason I went to see the premiere showing of The Phantom Menace at my town's cinema. The auditorium erupted with cheering when the film began. I thought that was weird.

[@burrytellam]

I love the Australian guests.

[@Epinardscaramel]

The only issue is you need to turn the videos upside-down, of course

[@inwalters]

This reminds me of a story from back in the day. The Beatles repertoire was going to be released on CD starting in February, 1987. In November, 1986 due to a manufacturing error some copies of Beatles CD's got put into Kate Bush "The Whole Story" CD covers, and Beatlemaniacs were buying Kate Bush CD's in the hope of getting a Beatles CD early.

[@panda4247]

I thought there was a guy in the cinema, who just greeted them "hello, i am joe black" and they thought it was a prank and there will be no movie, and left

[@hellome12345678999]

Where can I watch the full ep with the visuals?

[@Junipart]

you can't

[@hmm531]

Full ep

[@Geeksmithing]

Well the novelty of something new with Star Wars wasn't quite how Matt described as they had just created and released the monstrosities that were the the Special Editions in theatres in 1997.

[@eshiffer]

a Minions movie scored by Colin Stetson is what the world needs

[@uberfuzzy]

The only thing to beat Phantom Menace -> Meet Joe Black was a few years later when gamers bought the Halo demo that also came with a full copy of Crackdown :)

[@leandervr]

Pleeeeease give us full episode videos!

[@davidioanhedges]

The trailer was awesome ... All the best bits of the movie .... in 2 minutes, which is why ...

[@j7m7f]

To be honest, here in Poland I better remember The Matrix as pirated movie than A Phantom Menace. An as I remember Phantom Menace reception was not very enthusiastic. Matrix was somethin new and amaizing and everyone was wondering how the story develops in next parts, while new SW was criticized and now it is better remmembered than it was liked by then. Perhaps Disney played big role in this lately.

[@E_T_31]

This is the first time I immediately knew one of these (although I wasn't around back then) :)

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: it either had a preview/trailer, or a first part of a double feature, that people really wanted to watch and didn't care about the Brad Pitt film part.

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Yup, yet totally oblivious to the Star Wars part . My first movies in 2000 legally downloaded through Kazaa were "The Matrix", "Thirteen Ghosts" , and "The Fast and the Furious", ... on 28.8 Kbps. Kids these days don't know what patience or delayed gratification is.

[@erictaylor5462]

6:10 I was 7 when the original Star Wars came out.

[@TheKlabim]

Why would you upload clips only?

[@nicolaplays1134]

I actually prefer the clips - I don't have the attention span for an hour+ long video

[@ThePainWhale]

you know what I'm here for. please please please video uploads

[@jamesknight4797]

Full episodes on KZbin

[@1tgb4yb25ub5ub]

*confused and loading* wut

[@mckinneym.2743]

​@TylerTMG i think they're asking for full eps on youtube, which I can appreciate but this isnt a great way of doing it

[@1tgb4yb25ub5ub]

@@mckinneym.2743 but they are and that confused me

[@augur1975]

So this is how I find out there was a snafu with the podcast release and I didn't actually download the correct Episode 7 but probably Episode 8. At least it was an easy question about films to figure out while wondering about it's origin and not about flags. 😕

[@ruth5746]

Full episodes on yt

[@charliedobbie8916]

I almost got that - but thought it might have been The Matrix instead.

[@LeBannis]

full ep on youtube or I'm burning something

[@sigstackfault]

suggestion: put the episodes on youtube, but with no editing; just the four facecames

[@avirajsinghmehta1857]

Please upload on Google podcast it still has the wrong one

[@gerardpeterbrennan]

I'm just old enough to have seen the original Star Wars on it's first release. I greatly enjoyed it, and it is one of the reasons I became a Sci-Fi fan. I was 8 years old. But by the time Phantom Menace was coming out I had no interest in it. Star Wars was a groundbreaking film for special effects, and the first three were superb kids' movies. The rest may also be for all I know. I'm not interested in ever watching them. I really don't understand this modern phenomenon of adults getting excited about what are clearly kids' movies though. I still love Sci-Fi but I have no interest in Star Wars, Marvel, or any other such essentially childish stories. A little bit of violence added to a kids' story doesn't turn it into an adult story in my opinion. I much prefer books, films and TV series that explore more complex themes about the human condition.

[@arcanics1971]

Folks, Tom's explained several times why he can't put full episodes on YT. I don't like it either, but he's not avoiding it because he wants to. Go back and read his explanation on earlier clip episodes if you haven't seen it.

[@chena22]

@@BartZeroSix wants to build an audience on platforms outside of KZbin

[@masterowl123]

it just sucks and is clearly not working, so idk.

[@christiandevey3898]

I remember people doing this in 2015 so I got it immediately

[@StrangeChickandPuppo]

I remember hearing about it but had forgotten all about it; I tear up on the Force Awakens trailer still myself, when the falcon flies in the desert and the slow theme comes over, it just feels like I'm home finally after a very long and rough trip.

[@Flyingcar100]

I remember this happening

[@Erveon]

He's obviously not interested in our feedback or wishes for full episodes. We tried. Unsubbing and moving on.

[@mocliamtoh573]

Can you add episode numbers in the highlight description?

[@nicolaplays1134]

The title is inaccurate - Brad Pitt didn't *cause* the walk-out, it was just that he was in the film that happened to be on after the trailer.

[@adamtousek7622]

Are there full video episode? No? See you later I guess

[@markusklyver6277]

Full episodes

[@LotsOfS]

Tom don't you have a dormant Nebula account? Maybe you should upload there, just to troll the beggars

[@Dthenn]

I must preface this by saying I am a huge fan of your work. How have you managed to upload over an hour of highlights when you have only released one 40 minute long episode? Are you ever going to release more episodes instead of spamming us with this rubbish or should I just unsubscribe now? Did you ever intend to upload more than one episode? This bait and switch is deceptive.

[@74bish]

The other full episodes are podcast only. Tom has explained why he did this. None of us are happy about it, but thats just how it is.

[@Carambal81]

@@74bish You have a link to Tom's explanation?

[@74bish]

@@Carambal81 Sorry, I don’t. He briefly explained it in one of his newsletters, something about the algorithm and, iirc, one of the concerns was that it wouldn’t get much traction in the podcast version when full episodes are on YT.

[@Carambal81]

@@74bish Ah, there is a newsletter? I'll look into it.

[@mycroft791]

It's funny how I guess i've purged I, II and III from my mind. I remember seeing Joe Black in the theater and think it should stick out in my mind that I had also seen the trailer for new, decade long awaited and anticipated Star Wars. But, I guess since Phantom turned out to be really, very bleh I've banished memories of it and anything related to it from my mind.