The spring semester of Cyclone Cinema kicked off this past weekend with the drama film, “Gone Girl.” 

“The beginning of the year tends to have higher numbers [of people]. We had full capacity or close to capacity every night for ‘Gone Girl,’” said Hannah Nation, co-director of Cyclone Cinema. 

Cyclone Cinema shows movies in Carver 101 every Thursday-Sunday night. The auditorium seats 202 people and aisle lights have been put in to accommodate for the growing interest among students. 

The Student Union Board chooses movies based on box office numbers and award nominations. Most of the movies shown have just recently been taken out of the theaters. 

“We look at what’s coming out of theaters and then go off of that. At the general meetings, we show trailers and vote on the ones that we’re not so sure about,” Nation said. 

This semester’s lineup includes movies that have been nominated for Oscars or Golden Globe awards, such as “American Sniper” or “Into the Woods.” Also among the list is “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” which Nation thinks will be popular because they are part of a series. 

The list of movies include:

Jan. 22 to 25: Nightcrawler

Jan. 29 to Feb. 2: Big Hero 6

Feb. 5 to 8: Birdman

Feb. 12 to 15: The Best of Me  

Feb. 19 to 22: Interstellar

Feb. 26 to Mar. 1: Horrible Bosses 2

Mar. 5 to 8: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Mar. 12 to 13: St. Vincent

Mar. 26 to 29: The Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies

Apr. 2 to 5: Into the Woods

Apr. 9 to 12: American Sniper

Apr. 16 to 19: Tak3n

Apr. 23 to 26: The Wedding Ringer

“Students also like comedies. It doesn’t really matter what it is, [comedies] do really well,” Nation said. 

“Horrible Bosses 2” and “St. Vincent” are two of the comedies that Cyclone Cinema will show this semester. Thadeus Beekman, one of the general members of SUB, said “Interstellar” will also be popular among students. 

“I think it’s a movie a lot of different people will like. I know I’m excited about it,” Beekman said. 

Cyclone Cinema takes place every weekend of the semester and plays movies at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday-Sunday in Carver 101. Admission is free to students and snacks are available for purchase. 

For more information about Cyclone Cinema and this semester’s schedule of movies, visit sub.iastate.edu.