The Twenty is the mixture of advertisements, commercials for television shows, movie trailers, and theater chain branding that has become commonplace in American movie theaters. The term itself is derived from the fact that the block often takes up twenty minutes of runtime which has to be factored into the theaters' publicized showtimes. It is often marketed as something that moviegoers shouldn't want to miss.
The Twenty usually follows a pre-set structure:
Many moviegoers have complained about the expansion of the traditional block of trailers into The Twenty, especially the addition of television ads which often have no connection to the feature presentation whatsoever. Theater operators, on the other hand, point to shrinking attendance, rising operation costs, and backlash against higher ticket prices as justification for the addition of ads, noting that they need the ad revenue to remain solvent. Some of the larger studios, such as Disney, have negotiated no ad policies for their movies, using their power to gain this concession from the theaters.