150:. These films are typically released in the largest markets first, with a gradual rollout depending on audience hype and interest. These releases are usually scheduled towards the end of the year to coincide with major awards events. When a film garners awards attention during this period, critical praise and strong word-of-mouth can translate into a higher per-screen average, and thus expansion to more theaters. Awards attention benefits films from smaller companies or distributors who do not have the larger budgets needed to spend on advertising.
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138:. Arthouse and independent films that garner high per-theater averages are seen as likely candidates for a successful wider release. A distributor using this release strategy must take care not to expand too quickly in the early stages to prevent the (limited) audience from being spread too thin, which would reduce the per-theater average and so cause the film to appear weaker.
115:. If the film receives positive word of mouth, it is gradually expanded to more theaters, as the marketing campaign gains momentum. A successful film released in this manner has even the possibility of expanding into a wide release.
126:
may opt to increase advertising and push for a wider release. On the other hand, if audience turnout is not successful, the distributor can withdraw from the campaign, thus minimizing advertising and promotional expenditures.
184:
sparked criticism for not expanding to more cities sooner. Some journalists and industry sources defended the rollout, arguing an immediate wide release for such a film with a specialized audience was not a viable option.
389:
162:
technology making films more accessible to audiences regardless of geographic location, the platform release strategy has been criticized as an outdated model as it limits specialty films to metropolitan areas.
485:"Will Christmas Presence Count at Oscar Time? : Movies: Releasing a film at year's end to qualify for the Academy Awards sometimes pays off big--remember 'Driving Miss Daisy'?--but it can also prove costly"
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and began its limited theatrical run on
November 24, 2017, in New York City and Los Angeles, with a wider opening on Christmas Day. Only until days before the nominees for the
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In the United States, even a limited theatrical release can help trigger a variety of ancillary revenues, like home video, pay television,
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mandate releases in both locations. The films are almost always released to a wider audience in
January or February of the following year.
244:
43:
theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada has been defined by
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96:, which premiered in 1975 and is still shown only in limited fashion; it is the longest-running theatrical release in film history.
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A platform release is a type of limited release in which a film opens in fewer theaters (typically 50 or fewer) than a
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nominations (as by its rules). Highly anticipated documentaries also receive limited releases at the same time in
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390:"Exclusive Interview: Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Harvey Weinstein's Antics, 'T.S. Spivet,' and Amazon's 'Casanova'"
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873:"The Platform Release Has All but Disappeared. Is That Hurting Films Like 'Spencer' and 'Belfast'? (Column)"
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is to give highly anticipated and critically acclaimed films a limited release on or before
December 31 in
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Platform releases are commonly used by studios and distributors seeking to position their films for
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were opened in wide release. The shift away from platform releases was seen as a result of the
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839:"'Call Me by Your Name' Box Office Is Lagging, But Sony Pictures Classics Isn't to Blame"
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813:"With Oscar Nominations Ahead, Specialized Releases Hold Their Breath at the Box Office"
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737:"Behind the financial struggle to bring 'Call Me By Your Name' to the big screen"
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strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically
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costs are conserved until a film's performance has been established, when the
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414:"The Longterm Measure of Success – A Follow Up on the Indie Feature: BRAKE"
637:"The Winners? Take Your Pick; No Sure Bets for This Year's Academy Awards"
1246:
64:
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The purpose is often used to gauge the appeal of specialty films, like
711:"Why Are Limited Release Movies Still A Distribution Method in 2018?"
180:
were announced was the film expanded to 800 theaters. Distributor
130:
In the early stages of a platform release, the key metric is the
1371:
897:
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448:"Two theaters or 1,000? How to release an Oscar-winning film"
27:
Release of a film or media through exclusive locations
787:"Call Me by Your Name (2017) - Financial Information"
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676:"The Delayed Gratification of Midwest Oscar Season"
188:In 2021, some films that were awards contenders (
47:as a film released in fewer than 600 theaters.
603:"The Expensive Oscar-Nomination Manipulations"
446:Liu, Evie; Davis, William (January 24, 2018).
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8:
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85:Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
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266:"Indie distrib Premiere in need of cash"
256:
118:The advantage of the strategy is that
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861:
837:Brueggemann, Tom (January 30, 2018).
811:Brueggemann, Tom (January 21, 2018).
735:Teodorczuk, Tom (November 21, 2017).
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702:
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667:
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546:"No Guns Blazing, Just Ideas on Fire"
497:from the original on October 16, 2022
304:Hallenbeck, Bruce G. (May 13, 2009).
287:"Box Office News: Release Patterns".
7:
441:
439:
437:
435:
674:Harvilla, Rob (February 15, 2018).
483:Brennan, Judy (December 24, 1994).
334:"Coming soon, to very few theaters"
264:DiOrio, Carl (September 27, 2002).
209:on theaters and the streaming age.
166:A notable example is the 2017 film
601:Harmetz, Aljean (March 30, 1989).
245:List of American independent films
103:, international sales and others.
25:
1409:
709:Covill, Max (January 31, 2018).
635:Lyman, Rick (February 7, 2000).
219:
132:per-theater/screen average gross
73:Los Angeles County, California
1:
544:Lyman, Rick (June 30, 2000).
293:. January 4, 1994. p. 4.
93:The Rocky Horror Picture Show
240:Roadshow theatrical release
174:2017 Sundance Film Festival
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33:Limited theatrical release
1405:
520:. Butterworth-Heinemann.
516:Kerrigan, Finola (2009).
90:One notable exception is
362:"All the dish on 'Duma'"
172:, which debuted at the
83:, as the rules for the
67:. A common practice by
762:"Call Me by Your Name"
418:Digital Cinema Society
402:on September 13, 2015.
308:. McFarland. pp.
182:Sony Pictures Classics
136:total box office gross
1124:Principal photography
871:(November 21, 2021).
1362:Guerrilla filmmaking
1336:Digital distribution
1279:Digital intermediate
1119:Cinematic techniques
577:"Per-screen average"
276:on October 16, 2021.
169:Call Me By Your Name
1084:Production schedule
715:Film School Rejects
342:. February 21, 2005
306:Comedy-Horror Films
178:90th Academy Awards
1397:First-dollar gross
641:The New York Times
607:The New York Times
551:The New York Times
420:. January 29, 2018
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1422:
1213:
1212:
1089:Shooting schedule
575:(June 30, 2009).
527:978-0-7506-8683-9
490:Los Angeles Times
370:. August 31, 2005
339:Los Angeles Times
319:978-0-7864-3332-2
203:COVID-19 pandemic
75:, to qualify for
61:independent films
37:film distribution
16:(Redirected from
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1367:Development hell
1297:Film distributor
1200:Costume designer
1177:Daily production
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1151:Dailies (rushes)
1146:Daily call sheet
1074:Production board
1035:Script breakdown
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869:Gleiberman, Owen
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398:. Archived from
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107:Platform release
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1341:Streaming media
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1257:Special effects
1219:Post-production
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1079:Day out of days
1047:Shooting script
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978:film adaptation
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148:awards success
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142:Awards season
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81:New York City
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77:Academy Award
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57:documentaries
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1407:
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1309:Film release
1289:Distribution
1232:Re-recording
1227:Film editing
1139:Videographer
1000:Film finance
958:Step outline
882:December 30,
880:. Retrieved
876:
850:December 30,
848:. Retrieved
842:
832:
822:December 30,
820:. Retrieved
816:
806:
796:December 30,
794:. Retrieved
790:
781:
771:December 30,
769:. Retrieved
765:
756:
746:December 30,
744:. Retrieved
740:
730:
720:December 30,
718:. Retrieved
714:
687:December 30,
685:. Retrieved
679:
654:December 30,
652:. Retrieved
640:
630:
620:December 30,
618:. Retrieved
606:
596:
586:December 30,
584:. Retrieved
580:
573:August, John
567:
557:December 30,
555:. Retrieved
549:
517:
511:
501:December 30,
499:. Retrieved
488:
459:December 30,
457:. Retrieved
451:
422:. Retrieved
417:
408:
400:the original
393:
384:
372:. Retrieved
365:
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344:. Retrieved
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328:
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288:
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274:the original
269:
259:
235:Film release
195:
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113:wide release
110:
98:
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69:film studios
54:
32:
31:
29:
1387:Film rights
1377:Filmography
1134:Videography
1062:Scenography
973:spec script
933:Development
791:The Numbers
741:MarketWatch
453:MarketWatch
424:December 8,
374:December 8,
346:December 8,
227:Film portal
124:distributor
45:Nielsen EDI
1392:Turnaround
1357:Box office
1242:Soundtrack
1237:Sync sound
1195:Editor log
1172:Production
1106:Production
1052:Storyboard
1012:Greenlight
963:Screenplay
951:scriptment
925:Filmmaking
681:The Ringer
251:References
134:, not the
51:Background
1114:Film crew
1094:one-liner
1067:Rehearsal
844:IndieWire
817:IndieWire
649:0362-4331
615:0362-4331
395:IndieWire
160:streaming
154:Criticism
120:marketing
101:streaming
65:art films
41:art house
1430:Category
1331:Roadshow
1247:Timecode
1182:Progress
946:Producer
495:Archived
213:See also
1350:Related
1324:delayed
1319:limited
1057:Casting
1040:process
968:process
877:Variety
367:Variety
290:Variety
270:Variety
197:Spencer
191:Belfast
1267:visual
988:Option
647:
613:
524:
316:
207:impact
1262:sound
1252:Music
1187:Sound
1005:pitch
158:With
35:is a
1372:Film
1314:wide
1302:list
1191:Cost
983:Hook
884:2022
852:2022
824:2022
798:2022
773:2022
748:2022
722:2022
689:2022
656:2022
645:ISSN
622:2022
611:ISSN
588:2022
559:2022
522:ISBN
503:2022
461:2022
426:2023
376:2023
348:2023
314:ISBN
63:and
310:112
205:'s
1432::
875:.
860:^
841:.
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678:.
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639:.
609:.
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194:,
59:,
917:e
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