Cinema Cemetery

Film Release Windows (A Game of Chicken)

Disclaimer:

The following is my own opinion and not the opinion of any studios I have worked for in the past or will work for in the future. All specific information comes courtesy of publicly accessible articles, please see the bibliography for more information.

Some movies are rushed through production just to hit a magic release date, others wrap up and sit on the shelf for months. What is the method behind the madness of the film industry’s release windows and, knowing more, how can it help us as consumers?

To start with, a “(release) Window is a term used to describe periods of time a certain type of media is allowed to screen (a) film. Traditionally, a feature film is first released in theatres, then on DVD and pay-per-view/video-on-demand (VOD) and finally, on broadcast TV. As the landscape of traditional distribution changes, so do the windows. (1)” 

“Whilst cinemagoers will think of film campaigns in terms of posters, trailers and reviews (which are clearly very important!) – (a producer’s) first thought whenever (they) acquire a film for distribution is one thing: the release date. (5)”

Domestic Seasonal meanings

Various seasons of the year and months within that season are seen in different ways by studios releasing films into the cinema. For example, it’s traditionally thought “...that opening a big movie in January is a recipe for disaster. (2)” 

Here’s the general rule of thumb:

“Summer is for blockbusters, the end of the year is for classy Oscar bait, and the other months are for stuff (the studios) fear no one wants to see. (2)” 

“Since the extraordinary successes of Jaws in the summer of 1975 and Star Wars two summers later, the big Hollywood studios have increasingly chosen to release their would-be blockbusters in the United States during the summer period (starting Memorial Day weekend). (3)”

“Studies suggest that we’re more likely to go (to the theatre) over big holidays; when the weather’s warm; and when kids are out of school. As a result, July’s box-office is, on average, twice as big as January’s. If you’re going to release a tentpole movie, it makes sense to do so when you have a chance of reaching the biggest audience possible, which usually means the summer. But the strategy has drawbacks. For one thing, much of the seasonal variation in box-office revenue is a statistical illusion: if you release blockbusters in July and dogs in January, no wonder people go to the movies more often in July. (2)”

There are several more issues with such a seasonal mentality. First off, if there are too many movies opening at the same time, the one with the largest marketing budget often ends up selling the most tickets. Smaller films can’t complete and equally large movies that don’t have the built in following of something like Star Wars for example, will have to contemplate releasing on a less favorable date or risk being completely choked out at the theater.

“...choosing release dates is a major strategic issue for movie studios, which places them in a configuration that resembles a game of chicken: all studios want to have their movies released in periods of large audience (attendance) and although none of them (are) willing to yield, they all admit that spacing out releases (would be) preferable. (3)”

“Tradition dies hard—but, every time a film with an unlikely release date scores big, the old paradigm weakens. Pretty soon, studios may decide that if you release it they will come—as long as it’s actually good. (2)”

As nice as that sounds, this may just be wishful thinking. Hollywood has never shown much of an ability to learn the right lessons from its mistakes! If there are ideals months, when do studios quietly release movies that they have zero confidence in? 

“January and February are usually most commonly described this way, with August and September sometimes included. (6)”

These periods are often referred to as Dump Months and, with some notable exceptions, are usually pretty good months to simply avoid going to the theater unless you are dead set on seeing something specific. Keep in mind though, all this information only applies directly to the United States and several similar nations. Once you release internationally, it’s a whole new game.

Gap between Domestic and Foreign

Upon reviewing the release dates across the globe of a single film, it’s easy to note just how big of a difference in release date per country there can be. For example, La La Land premiered in Italy late august of 2016 and comes out in Japan on February 24th 2017 (4). Part of the reason for this may be the fact that different countries have different holidays, therefore making for a variety of differing optimal times to release a movie. 

“For instance, in France, this explains why the lion’s share...are released during the...period that spans from late August to early September… (3)” 

Yet this is only a small part of the reasoning behind the international gap. Another factor may involve proper translation/subtitles and/or voice recording/dubbing that a foreign release may require. Yet another factor is that most major countries already HAVE film industries and cultures of their own that are probably more in tune with what their population wants. It takes a lot of specific and targeted marketing to bring an American release to the public's attention in what may be an already crowded local film market, much more, make them actually want to shell out  and see your product which, to them, is foreign. This can take a lot of time and planning.

Gap between Theater and Home Video

So that’s my attempt at an explanation for the domestic vs international release gap, what about the length of time it takes for a movie to go from a film reel in a cinema to a blu-ray in your living room?

This gap is getting shorter and shorter as home and internet based media have ramped up; yet a good rule of thumb that still seems to work in my opinion is this: The longer it plays in cinemas the longer you’ll have to wait until it comes out for purchase. My guess has something to do with not wanting to oversaturate the market with your product.

“Established content distributors generally look askance at the (shortening gap between theatre and video) because it disrupts traditional modes of doing business and raises uncomfortable questions. (7)”

Suppose this gap suddenly disappeared as, I believe, it one day will; would you go out to the cinema to see a movie you could watch on Netflix from your couch? I wouldn’t. I’m lazy like that. What are studios supposed to do about that? Well, they’ll have to change their business model, to make films with that in mind. But once again, the film industry has a habit of not learning lessons until it’s too late...look at how terribly they handled the advent of the VHS recorder, by crying about piracy, suing, and losing. Years later, look at how terribly they’ve handled the internet age and streaming media. 

Wrapping up, now with the knowledge of the game major motion picture studios are playing with release dates, you can pretty safely navigate new releases based upon their window of release and probably avoid getting burned by a terrible movie on a misguided whim. You’re aware of some of the difficulties that may arise when attempting an international release, and have seen a peek into the future collapse of the theater to home release gap.

This has been Cinema Cemetery, digging six feet deeper in film and culture.

-Josh Evans