By 6 p.m. on Thursday, the line outside the Nugget Theater had already started to form as fans of all ages gathered to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the final installment of the Harry Potter film series.
Patton Lowenstein '14 who contended that he knew "more about Harry Potter than anyone for 100 miles" arrived at the theater at noon. He and Dan Samost '14 were the first to arrive.
Lowenstein is a member of The Dartmouth Photography Staff.
Despite his claim that he "hate[s] these movies" for failing to stay entirely true to the books, Lowenstein said that the Harry Potter films are something "you have to see."
"It was a major part of our childhood," he said.
Lowenstein and Samost have so far been to all the midnight film screenings and book openings for Harry Potter. Samost fondly recalled a time he "beat up a kid" who gave away the ending of the seventh book at the midnight book release.
The two friends were hardly the only ones preparing early for the release. Early in the evening, students at the Claflin Jewelry Studio in the Hopkins Center for the Arts were crafting wands, Hogwarts pins and a variety of other Harry Potter memorabilia to wear to the show.
This is the first time that the Nugget Theater has shown Harry Potter during its initial release. Last November, the closest theater to Dartmouth that showed the first installment of the series's two-part finale was Entertainment Theaters in West Lebanon.
The decision about where the film is shown is made by its booking agent and the film distributors, according to Jesse Pacht, assistant manager of the Nugget.
Due to the population density of the area, the film studios only allow one of the two theaters to show many major films in their initial release. Because the West Lebanon theater has shown several other major studio films this summer, the studios offered Harry Potter to the Nugget, Pacht said.
The film will be shown in both 2-D and 3-D at midnight. For the midnight showing, tickets for 2-D sold out before tickets for 3-D, although both were sold out within an hour of each other.
Pacht said it was difficult to gauge the popularity of 3-D versus 2-D because this is the first time that the Nugget has shown the same film in both formats.
Samost, who had a ticket for 3-D, said he normally would prefer to see the film in 2-D but decided that, for the midnight showing, it was important to see it in 3-D. Lowenstein said he agreed.
"Go big or go home," Lowenstein said.
Sarah Croitoru, a Hanover resident, sat beside Lowenstein and Samost in line and complained that tickets to the 2-D show were already sold out by the time she arrived, forcing her to buy tickets to the 3-D.
"They sold out of 2-D tickets in 15 minutes," she said. "I think that should be a sign that they shouldn't show the 3-D movies."
Croitoru said that the 3-D glasses did not fit will over her regular glasses, but the higher price of the 3-D ticket had no impact on her decision.
"Harry Potter is worth it no matter what I have to pay," she said.
Several students interviewed by The Dartmouth also expressed reservations about seeing the film in 3-D.
Rachel Abendroth '13 adorned in various Hogwarts memorabilia including S.P.E.W. and Gryffindor prefect badges she had made said that she did not like the effect of watching movies in 3-D.
"3-D would make me throw up," she said. "It's already about magic. I don't think I need 3-D to make it more realistic."
Other students interviewed by The Dartmouth said they would not normally be willing to pay the extra money to see movies in 3-D, but they would make an exception for Harry Potter.
