Wicker's 4DX Screening at Regal Times Square Finds Viral Success

The indie medieval fable Wicker was not an obvious candidate for the immersive 4DX format. Directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson and starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, the $10.5 million film found an unexpected audience through a special 4DX screening at Regal Cinemas in Times Square. Initially a one-night event, viral demand led to a full week of sold-out shows, proving the action-oriented technology could amplify the film's most talked-about intimate scene.

4DX, introduced in the US in 2014, is the second most-popular large premium format behind Imax and typically suits spectacles like storms. For much of Wicker, the seats had little to do, offering only mild effects like a door knock against a viewer's back, moisture splashes during a river scene, or the sensation of the Fisherwoman emptying a chamberpot. The scent programmers even spared the audience the odors mentioned in the film. The format took a less obvious route, using motion to amplify awkwardness and laughter rather than adrenaline.

The consummation scene that defined the experience

The major 4DX sequence arrived during the bed-breaking consummation scene between Colman's Fisherwoman and Skarsgård's Wicker Husband, a comically tall, supposedly hollow wicker man. The seats saved their biggest contribution for this moment, with movement synchronized to the action. The audience was tossed as the wicker husband's shoulders tightened. Alexander Skarsgård said his character aimed "to love the Fisherwoman, as physically and as deeply as possible," and the 4DX effects delivered that physically. The movement sharpened the absurdity, amplifying laughter rather than echoing a traditional action sequence. One reviewer compared the experience to "losing handfuls of your popcorn to a mock Oklahoma tornado." The programmer gave relatively tame, jackhammer taps for villagers' sex scenes compared to the main couple's gallop.

This success has raised speculation about 4DX's future for erotic movies. Industry observers now wonder about potential rereleases of classics like Fifty Shades of Grey or Basic Instinct in the format.

Audience reaction and the atmosphere

The scene produced an intense crowd response. A reviewer noted it created screams on the level of a Taylor Swift concert. The audience was largely female, and the screening attracted playful, ritualistic behavior. One attendee brought a homemade wicker basket, carried by friends who were helping her get over a breakup. This detail captured the playful mood around a film whose central romance hinges on a woman falling for a basket-like husband. Jokes about screening Wicker in 4DX had circulated on social media and Letterboxd prior to the event, and distributor Black Bear arranged the special screening at the request of that online audience.

The broader implication for the format

The event marked an unusual theatrical draw for Black Bear, whose previous US release, Christy starring Sydney Sweeney, bombed last year. For the distributor, the week-long event offered a unique draw for a movie that otherwise gives the chairs little to do. 4DX had previously found a natural match in films built around storms and spectacle, such as Twisters, where wind and rain effects made its tornado story more immersive. Wicker placed fifth in the North American box office during its run, but its 4DX success story is separate. The film had made its Sundance debut in January prior to these screenings.

The format found a new audience through the awkward, laughter-amplifying bed-breaking scene, suggesting 4DX may be more versatile for romance and intimacy than previously assumed.