Magnolia sponsoring nationwide pay-what-you-want advanced screenings of Freakonomics

Magnolia Pictures is sponsoring a unique screening program in ten major cities across the U.S. that will allow moviegoers to choose how much they want to pay for an advance screening of Freakonomics: The Movie. The highly anticipated film version of the internationally bestselling book by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt hits theaters nationwide on October 1st. The pay-what-you-want screenings offer fans a chance to watch the film this coming Wednesday, September 22nd, at Landmark Theatres in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver and Seattle.

Tickets for the screenings are being sold exclusively online through MovieTickets.com. Fans can choose how much they wish to pay – anywhere from $.01 to $100, after completing a brief questionnaire. CLICK HERE to access the survey directly.

The data will be analyzed by authors Dubner and Levitt to identify what factors and circumstances prompt moviegoers to pay more or less for their screening tickets.

In the spirit of the creative, incentives-based thinking behind Freakonomics, the pay-what-you-want screenings reference a popular experiment from the original book, in which authors Levitt and Dubner analyze how people interact with a weekly, pay-what-you-want bagel delivery service.

Produced by Green Film Company and distributed by Magnolia Pictures, Freakonomics examines human behavior with provocative and often hilarious case studies brought to life by a dream team of Academy Award and Sundance Film Festival winning directors. Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp) balance levity and candor with their eye-opening profile of underachieving kids incentivized to learn with cold hard cash. Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) delivers a visually arresting look at the crumbling facade of Sumo wrestling. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) offers up a buoyant and revealing angle on the repercussions of baby names. Finally, Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) investigates an unsettling theory to explain why crime rates dramatically dropped in the early 1990s. Seth Gordon (The King of Kong) weaves the segments together with brisk interludes, providing context and commentary from authors Dubner and Levitt.

In addition to opening theatrically nationwide on October 1st, Freakonomics is also available for rent at a premium advance price on iTunes, Amazon, and On Demand through major cable providers.