Avenue Preps for Harry Potter Finale, Showing to Break IMAX Record

Making sure that the parking lot lighting at The Avenue at White Marsh does not go into "night mode" is one of Lisa Geiger's many tasks in preparation for tonight's midnight premier of the new Harry Potter movie.

Geiger, the shopping center's marketing manager, said the center will remain lit and secure during showings of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

"We definitely expected it to be crowded," she said. "The entire week, we expect it to be crowded."

All 3,700 available seats in 15 of the available 16 theaters at AMC Loews White Marsh 16 with IMAX have sold out for the midnight release. A 3 a.m. showing in the IMAX theater still had some available tickets as of Thursday afternoon, Geiger said.

Several of the Friday daytime showings are also nearly sold out, she added.

The previous seven Harry Potter film premiers brought massive crowds to the shopping center theater, Geiger said, with many die-hard fans arriving in costume.

In keeping with The Avenue's Youth Escort Policy, children and teens 15-and-under who are not accompanied by parents or guardians are barred from the shopping center's common areas after 9 p.m. Parents, however, may drop off teens at the theater's entrance for the premier and pick them up immediately after the showing, she said.

IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures included the White Marsh theater as part of its record-breaking number of IMAX showings for the Harry Potter finale. Worldwide, 423 IMAX theaters will show the final Harry Potter film on July 15, according to a news release.