Oscar contenders are being screened all over Hollywood for industry insiders who are award voters, but have barely cracked the heartland of America, according to a “New York Times” article. That’s because distribution strategies call for slow roll-outs to theaters in increments.
Notes the article by Michael Cieply, “‘Frost/Nixon,’ described far and wide as a favorite in the Oscar race, has yet to open in midsize cities with audiences as sophisticated as those in Madison, New Orleans or Tulsa, Okla. Instead, Universal Pictures put the film in just three theaters on Dec. 5.”
Warner Bros. used a gradual, layered release with success for Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby,” which went on to gross a blockbuster $100.5 million domestically in 2004-05. “The studio this year has dribbled out Mr. Eastwood’s “Gran Torino”—starting with just six theaters on Dec. 12, and fewer than a hundred by Christmas—even while widespread publicity has piqued the curiosity of an audience that will be largely unable to see the film until it moves to still more theaters on Jan. 9.”
The gradual release pattern is described in the book “Marketing to Moviegoers” as a “platform” release pattern employed for “prestige” films, starting small with hopes of building audience buzz with positive reviews from cinema critics. However, the risk is that a film doesn’t catch on, in which case it is finished in cinemas after only modest circulation.
Notes the “New York Times” article, “For instance, Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Synecdoche, New York’ released in nine theaters in October by Sony Pictures Classics, expanded briefly to 119 locations, and then the number dwindled.”
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