In 1998, movie theaters witnessed an unusual phenomenon surrounding the release of Meet Joe Black, a run-of-the-mill romantic drama starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. While the film itself was typical Hollywood fare, moviegoer behavior was far from ordinary. A few minutes into the film, many audience members simply got up and left the theater — a confounding trend that played out nationwide.
Movie theaters were baffled: why did consumers purchase a ticket only to leave shortly after the main attraction began? Well, it turns out that Meet Joe Black was not the main attraction.