Page 1 of Why do countries have different movie release-dates?

OR: why aren`t movies released round the world simultaneously?

I was just wondering - because the 2 week wait we`ll have for "Superman Returns" is really p***ing me off! >:(

By then, we (uk) will know all about the reviews, the general perception etc. - not to mention some of the hype being worn off. And it will be a nightmare trying to avoid any spoilers! Why can`t it be released here at the same time as the States? You see these adds about movie piracy - but you can hardly blame people when they have to wait weeks for a big movie, just because they are in a different country. I know I`ll be getting a dvd/copy of SR as soon as I possibly can (....any heads-up, please PM me ;) ).

I remember the same thing happened with "Sar Wars: Episode 1" and countless other big movies too - it just seems so pointless.... :/ :(

This item was edited on Wednesday, 21st June 2006, 02:25

Normally it`s because the studio isn`t completely sure of how well the movie will do. If it`s poorly received, the studio might take the movie back to the editing suite, do a few dubs, maybe even do a small re-shoot (King Kong did 2 scene re-shoots 3 days before release).

However, with a release as huge at this, I`m surprised they didn`t go simultaneous. Sounds like Singer isn`t 100% confident in his work.

You`re damn right about the piracy thing tho. Pixar`s Cars has been out for ages in the US but we don`t get it till the end of the month.

Doesn`t matter, I`ve already watched it 3 times, and may watch it again this evening...

Best solution? Move to Oz. They get everything first (Transporter and The ring were released there 2 months before anywhere else)

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I`m sure 2 other reasons I heard were

1) it`s so the actors can do the US publicity, i.e. Entertainment Tonight, Conan O Brian etc, and then travel the world in the week before release to do publicity on the equivalent in each country

2) The actual film reels are expensive, so once they`ve finished being used in some US cinemas they`re sent round the world.

Saying all that, it`s strange though that some big films like LotR, and the last 2 Star Wars films did get simultaneous releases, I would have though Superman would to :(

Al

www.admars.co.uk

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Best solution? Move to Oz. They get everything first (Transporter

Actually, both Transporter movies were released in France first (despite what IMDb will have you believe), and Australia have some worse release dates than us in the UK (although obviously get some stuff before us, but usually not) :B

You can complain, but things are a lot better now than they used to be. Star Wars Episode 1 was released in May in America and July in the UK, and this was the norm, not the exception. Now, big films are generally released day and date around the world, with the last two Star Wars sequels and Lord of the Rings being prime examples. It costs more money to release day and date (cause of the prints) but it beats piracy somewhat.

With Superman Returns though, Warner said themselves that it`s because of the World Cup! (something that`s not that big an impact in the States!)

Australia is in part due to their back to front weather, ie their summertime is our wintertime, so the kids are back in school if they release a summer blockbuster the same time or after us.

Cracking toast, Gromit!

Cars isn`t released here til the end of July isn`t it?

Finding Nemo we had to wait almost 3 months for, and the same deal with Chicken Little.

We also have to wait 2 weeks for the release of A Scanner Darkly, but at least we get PotC 2 a day before the yanks :/ .

A release as big a Sups should definatly be simultaneous. It`s one of those movies that just cannot fail finacially.

Regards
Bryan

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With Superman Returns though, Warner said themselves that it`s because of the World Cup! (something that`s not that big an impact in the States!)

....so lets hope that the U.S.A. qualify from their group and go all the way to the final - thus getting the American public all excited and stay indoors to watch their march to the final , and causing all American cinema box office receipts for Superman Returns to falter somewhat!?! That will teach the cocky yanks to be clever! >:(

The release timetable of a movie has nothing to do with pimping it around tv chat shows. It has everything to do with revenue maximisation. The longer the movie is in the box office, the better. Ideally they want the movie to open big, taking a large amount on its opening weekend in the US. Then they want it to stay in the top one or two box office places for the next few weeks of its run. They hope the success of the opening weekend will persuade people to see the movie during its first week, as that will convince the movie theatres to extend the movie`s engagement beyond the fortnight that films usually stay in theatres.

Unless the film is so big an international release is a must, the rest of the world has to wait for the American "Domestic" market to finish with the movie. With print costs being so high, certain international markets such as the EU countries will get fresh prints struck. Other markets such as the Far East will inherit US Domestic prints as they finish their US engagements and are returned to the Studio.

They hope for the same opening weekend - first week bonanza the picture might make in the US in each country the movie opens in. It would appear that most movies make the bulk of their box office take in the domestic US market. While they may make more collectively from the international markets, no individual international box office is as big as the US domestic one.

As the international theatrical market for the movie dries up, that`s when the video market kicks in and is why they used to like a rental-only window. Like the theatrical market, the video market is split into various markets.

Which is why we have Region Coding (you knew I was going to say that). DVD enabled the Studios to reinforce their staggered market model because they could stop consumers buying discs from places where the movie was available ahead of their own region.

More than anything, the rise of the internet and the possibilities of movies-on-demand has finally (only in the past six months) opened the Studios` eyes to the idea of a global market for their products. Digital projection and highly encrypted satellite distribution of movies will do away with the need for expensive film prints and maybe we`ll soon see the end of staggered film openings.

But I doubt it. Hollywood is a place of entrenched bad habits and the consumers are exceptionally low on their priorities.

J Mark Oates

....sorry to go completely off-topic, but -

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I know a Laurel and Hardy fan when I see one.... ;) :D

This item was edited on Friday, 23rd June 2006, 03:00

Had to wait over a year for `Harold and Kumar` R2 release, it came out in cinema here and was already a few months into general release over the pond! Same problem with Ryan Reynolds `Waiting`, downloaded it yonks ago and its only recently been released here!

I can understand the need to publicise around the world but does that really take a year in some cases!?

rant over :)