Movie Premieres in London – The Ultimate Guide
You’re dying to meet your favourite actor/actress and decided to go to the next movie premiere in London? Only one thing that’s getting in the way: don’t know how it all works?
Where to Get Information
Movie premieres are not much advertised and if you think about it, it’s totally understandable: what if Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio or Stephen Spielberg come to London and everybody knows it? Disaster. Thousands of fans would gather around the premiere scene fighting for wristband for the event. That simply cannot be controlled and would be too risky for the stars.
So, if you want to be informed about movie premieres you have to know where to find information. Webpages such as whatsontheredcarpet.com or premierescene.net are a good start.
Follow the movie on all social media platforms, especially on Twitter as they often share valuable information about the upcoming movie premieres. Search for the movie’s website as well and see if they write anything about the premiere as sometimes they share very detailed information.
Follow the actors, actresses and the director of the movie on social media, again, on Twitter especially, as they often drop useful information and announce competitions as well.
Wristbands
Every movie premiere goes with wristbands. It means, you cannot go to the premiere if you don’t have one. Wristbands are given out by the security on the spot of the premiere.
How to Get Wristbands?
If you want to secure a good place behind the barriers, you have to sign up on a list. This list is written by fans on the spot of the movie premiere in the morning of the premiere day. Hard core fans tend to go to the spot and start writing a list as early as 4-5am.
Once your name is on the list, don’t forget to write your number on your hand because the security hands out the wristbands by number order and you will be released to the barriers by number order as well. The lower number you have, the better place you get. Well…mostly…not always…but mostly.
Around 9-10am the security starts giving out the wristbands by number order. Usually, they don’t hold back wristbands, so if you’re not there, they don’t save your wristband for you.
Behind the Barriers
Once the wristbands have been given out, you have free time usually till 2pm. So, you can go and eat something or go home to have a rest if you live nearby. By 2pm, everybody who have wristbands have to form a line in number order. The security always check your number, so it’s not worth to cheat. You will be caught!
From this point, follow the security’s instructions. They will tell you when and from which direction you can go to the barriers and will guide you there. They will check your bag and use dogs to make sure what you’re carrying is safe. Sometimes they use metal detector as well to make sure you don’t try to bring anything that can be used as weapon in your clothes. If you have any liquid in your bag (water or soft drink) you will be asked to drink from it to make sure it’s not harmful (for example it’s not acid to attack somebody).
Always follow the security’s instructions without complain otherwise they might reject your entrance. Remember, you will meet world famous actors, actresses, directors and singers. The security’s task is to protect them under any circumstances.
Meeting the Stars
The first thing to keep in mind: anything is possible. It means, you never know if you’ll have a chance for autograph or selfie (or both) or not. Sometimes you’re lucky sometimes you go home with empty hands. Stars decide themselves if they want to give autographs and take selfies or not. Never use bad words on them if you missed them. They have strict schedule. Sometimes they simply don’t have enough time to give autographs to everyone even if they want to. They often have other programmes and interviews after the premiere, and they must get there on time.
Always ask for the celebrity’s permission before taking selfie. Not everyone likes taking selfies. Ian McKellen and Jeremy Irons for example don’t take selfies. Respect this. Don’t be rude with them. Some of them have very good reasons (bad experiences) why they don’t take selfies.
What to Bring With You for a Movie Premiere
A movie premiere is a whole day programme, so it’s wise to prepare yourself and think ahead. Click here for useful tips how to prepare yourself for a premiere. The list is based on my own experiences.
To read about the recent movie premieres I’ve been click here.
Follow me on YouTube for movie premiere videos.
Ready for your next adventure? Follow me on social media and share your recent adventures in London!
October 17, 2021 @ 8:05 pm
does coronavirus change anything? will i have to do anything different to get wristbands for the dune premiere tomorrow?
October 19, 2021 @ 2:37 pm
Hi Rachel,
Sorry for the late answer. Well, less people are being let in the viewing pans, so I think it’s more important than ever for fans to arrive to the site of the premiere as early as possible in the morning to get a good number in the queue. As far as I know, only 120 fans got wristbands for the Dune premiere yesterday – despite of the fact that hundreds of fans gathered there. I assume this trend will continue this year. Hope this helps.
November 10, 2021 @ 9:33 pm
Hi can I ask how does one know when wristbands are given out? I have been to a couple in the past and it was on the same day but others have been given out the day before (I think House of Gucci were given out the day before) so how would I know? it’s frustrating it’s only the autograph dealers are there always
November 12, 2021 @ 11:39 am
Hi, Well, the thing is, no-one knows it for sure. What we can do is to go there and ask the security but many times they do not give us information at all. So, if it’s a big premiere like House of Gucci, I just try to get as much information as I can from social media and the official website of the movie. If I am still in doubt (almost always, haha), I just go there in the evening of the day before and walk around. If I find nothing, I go back super early on the day of the premiere and try to find other people who are there for wristbands as well. Details of the premieres are usually kept in secret because the security don’t want thousands of people to go there and become the situation uncontrollable. So, they do not give out much information for reason. It’s actually a ‘try and see’ game. Autograph dealers might have secret information sources. They are usually well-informed but they never share it with others.
November 22, 2021 @ 8:27 pm
thank you for the info. Do we know if to access the red carpet they ask for covid vaccination?
November 24, 2021 @ 1:02 pm
Yes. You either have to be vaccinated or be able to provide a fresh pcr test. It can also happen that they ask both, it depends.
February 16, 2023 @ 7:32 pm
Great information, thanks. Got lucky for Wakanda Forever (first premier) as I didn’t realise about the wristbands but we got some about 3pm. Today for Ant Man 3 we were not so lucky. Arrived at 1pm and they had all gone the day before. Does the information of when the wristbands will be released get published anywhere do you know?
February 16, 2023 @ 10:48 pm
Hi there, Unfortunately there’s always very limited information available about movie premieres and no information at all about wristbands. Sometimes the security hands the wristbands out the day before of the premiere, sometimes, on the day of the premiere. I was unlucky today as well 🙁 Wanted to go to the Ant Man premiere but by around 11am all wristbands were gone. The best thing you can do is to go to the scene of the premiere and see if there’s any security member and ask them.