Pa.'s new world record: 777 movies in a year

Aliquippa, near Pittsburgh, has the only high school with three alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. True or False?

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Zachariah Swope always dreamed of seeing his name in the Guinness Book of World Records, but he wasn’t sure which record he wanted to break.

That was until the Harrisburg man saw an IGN article last April about a guy immortalized for seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home 292 times in the theater. A big movie guy himself, Swope knew what his challenge would be. 

Swope decided to watch as many movies as possible in theaters and racked up 777 screenings in a single year (from July 5, 2022, to June 30, 2023). He broke the record at 716, watching an average of 16 to 17 movies a week.

With theaters nationwide thronged by the #barbenheimer zeitgeist this summer, we talked to the 32-year-old about his film feat and his next move. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length. 

PA Local: Break down the process of how to set a record. What did you have to do to apply and then prove you set the record?

Swope: I had to wait 12 weeks for my application to be approved. Once I got the guidelines to follow, they were strict. I had to have ticket stubs, two witnesses with me, and I had to take a picture when I was at the theater and have a manager for a signature to say I did it. 

PA Local: Who were your witnesses? 

Swope: The theater employees were my witnesses. They would check in on me. I had to stay in the theater from the beginning to the end of the credits. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink during the movie because it was considered multitasking. I could not leave the movie until the lights turned on.

PA Local: Out of all the movies you saw, which ones were your favorite? Which were the worst? 

Swope: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was my most watched. I watched it 47 times. I watched The Super Mario Bros. Movie 35 times. Those were based on how many showtimes there were a day. They were also pretty short. The worst movie was The Devil Conspiracy. I do not recommend watching that. 

PA Local: Was there ever a time when you got overwhelmed?

Swope: It is mentally taxing. There is a lot of watching movies involved. I had times when I allowed myself some breaks. I took a day off here or there from watching movies. I was able to push through it, especially when there were new movies that came out. I had support from family and friends.

PA Local: When you accomplished setting the record, what was going through your mind?

Swope: I felt relieved. I finally accomplished something. I grew up dealing with depression and anxiety my whole life. I was doing this to raise mental health awareness. 

PA Local: Tell me more about how you raised that awareness? 

Swope: I talk about mental health awareness on my TikTok live. I tell people to donate to charities. I go by the motto “Be kind to one another.” 

PA Local: Are you burnt out from moviegoing? Or do you still go?

Swope: I am still going to the movies. I have been catching up with the new releases. I am still doing movie reviews. It is a drastic change from the past year. I was going to the movies almost every day. Now I don’t have that. I am still trying to change back to normal life by not going to the movies every day. It is kind of jarring. I do not know how to describe it.

PA Local: Is there another world record you want to break? 

Swope: I always thought about doing something again for Guinness World Records, but not on this scale. It’s always in the back of my brain. I just need some time to think.

—Tanisha Thomas, newsletter writer/reporter

Read more: Pennsylvania vs. the world — for Guinness records.

"Bro, delete this and bring back Ms. Biljana Electronica immediately. My rhythm is NOT glad right now."

—A social media user on TikTok's wildly popular Eurodance spoof that starred a Montgomery County native who's since been replaced

True.

Former NFL cornerback and Aliquippa alum Darrelle Revis became the third person from the school to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this month.

He joins former cornerback and three-time Super Bowl champion Ty Law, and Super Bowl champ and former tight end and coach Mike Ditka.

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