a movie is not playing

What should I say to mean that a movies is not playing in movie theaters anymore? It stopped playing or finished playing? Could I say that a movie is done playing?

ostap77 said:

What should I say to mean that a movies is not playing in movie theaters anymore? It stopped playing or finished playing? Could I say that a movie is done playing?

Click to expand...

I would say, "It's no longer on at the cinema."

Take your pick:

That movie is no longer playing.

That movie has (now) closed.

It's gone.

Another movie related question just came up. A movie is playing at a movie theater or in a movie theater?

ostap77 said:

Another movie related question just came up. A movie is playing at a movie theater or in a movie theater?

Click to expand...

In BrE we say that a film is on at a cinema.

We'd say that the movie is now in theaters or now showing (or now plowing) at the theater.

Barb_D said:

We'd say that the movie is now in theaters or now showing (or now plowing) at the theater.

Click to expand...

Plowing?! Playing, perhaps?

Would it be wrong to say "A movie is playing in the theater."? Or "....in movie theaters."?

I seem to have changed a setting on my phone so that now the spell check feature works in an even more bizarre way. Yes, playing not plowing.

As to "playing in the movie theater",would it be wrong to use "in" in it?

ostap77 said:

As to "playing in the mivie theater",would it be wrong to use "in" in it?

Click to expand...

What I grasp from the responses this thread obtained is that "in the theater" is commonly used in AmE, while BrE prefers "at the cinema". Besides, the use of the word "theater" (with that specific spelling, as opposed to BrE "theatre") instead of "cinema" for a place where movies are played, suggests the "American" preposition should be used.

charliedeut said:

What I grasp from the responses this thread obtained is that "in the theater" is commonly used in AmE, while BrE prefers "at the cinema". Besides, the use of the word "theater" (with that specific spelling, as opposed to BrE "theatre") instead of "cinema" for a place where movies are played, suggests the "American" preposition should be used.

Click to expand...

You're right. In BrE, if you said that anything was on "at the theatre" we would assume you were talking about a play performed by live actors. "Movie theater" and "movie house" are two American phrases that have at no point even attempted to enter BrE, perhaps surprisingly, given how many other words and phrases which have done so.

I don't agree with your in/at conclusion. "In theaters" means that it is currently able to be seen "on the big screen" (an idiom that means in the theater, versus renting it to watch at home ).

If you want to see the movie, you'd say "What time is it showing/playing at the Regal?" or "Oh, that won't work. What time is it showing at Painter's Crossing?" (Regal and Painter's Crossing both refer to local theaters.)

So it's wrong to say "The movie is playing in the movie theater"?

It does sound a little odd to my ears.

ostap77 said:

So it's wrong to say "The movie is playing in the movie theater"?

Click to expand...