Midnight movie showings and films in 3-D: the times are a-changing at your local movie theater.

Michael Nimmer of NAOS Entertainment -The Edge shared some fun movie trivia and discussed the latest in film technology and other silver screen secrets with members of the Greenville Rotary Club last week.

“How many people do you think would show up for a midnight screening of a movie in Greenville? Two years ago, we had a midnight show for the first ‘Twilight’ movie; 60 people showed up. Last year, that number went up to 280 for the second in the series,” said Nimmer.

“This year, for the third ‘Twilight movie,’ we had nearly 800 people show up. By no means were they all teenagers, believe me. It is amazing to see what has happened over the three years since we started.”

Nimmer said the rise in popularity of 3-D projects has led them to look into the technology, but said they had concerns.

“Basically, 3-D is a gimmick and it makes ticket prices go up-a lot,” Nimmer said.

“This summer we saw some of the first $20 movie tickets in New York. The average ticket to a 3-D film is $11 to $11.50.”

Nimmer said the studios don’t want you to know their dirty little secret: most 3-D movies didn’t start out that way.

“Very few movies are actually shot fully in 3-D, like ‘Avatar.’ Most are shot in 2-D and then some 3-D effects are added in post-production. It’s not true 3-D, but they charge 3-D prices for them anyway,” Nimmer explained.

He said there were also concerns about discomfort associated with viewing 3-D films.

“About 40 percent of audiences watching 3-D films report getting eye strain and headaches from them. We are hoping newer technologies will reduce are possibly eliminate that,” Nimmer said.

While there are still issues to work through, Nimmer said local moviegoers could expect to see 3-D technologies in place in the near future.

Contrary to rumors, Nimmer also said The Edge would definitely be staying open in Greenville.

“We have no intention of going anywhere. NAOS Entertainment is growing, which was always the plan. We will be opening a theater in Birmingham September 3,” Nimmer said.

“We also manage a number of other theaters and are now under contract to run a theater in Angola, Africa.”

Nimmer said The Edge’s location, which draws Interstate travelers along with dedicated moviegoers from several surrounding counties, has given the company “so much exposure.”

“I can’t tell you how many people have asked me, ‘Can you build one of these in our town or in this place?'”