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Rereleases Pile Into Cinemas

September 17, 2024 by Robert Marich Leave a Comment

Whiplash duo at drums

Theatrical rereleases are multiplying, driven by nostalgia, consumers’ desire to get out-of-home and gaps in release schedules after Hollywood  labor strikes.

And audiences are flocking to cinemas to see them. Later this week, 2009 music-school drama “Whiplash” gets a rerelease (Miles Teller, left, and J. K. Simmons pictured above). The stop-motion Laika Studios film “Coraline” just grossed a hefty $33 million domestically since Aug. 15, after previously piling up $75 million in boxoffice in its initial 2009 run.

The rerelease, tied to “Coraline” 15th anniversary, came via theater-owned distributor consortium Fathom Events with Trafalgar Releasing. “Coraline” was originally distributed by Focus Features, the Universal Pictures specialty distributor.Elsewhere, Australian horror film the “Badadook” is revived to play on 500 theater screens for IFC Films, after showing at just two in its initial cinema release a decade ago ago.

'Coraline' re-release poster
This year’s rerelease of “Coraline” is a hit.

Earlier this year, Disney’s rerelease of “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace” from 1999 made $19.4 million from cinemas globally this year. The Walt Disney Studios release (Disney bought the Fox studio) is no lost classic because it plays incessantly in home entertainment, yet “Star Wars” aficionados shelled out for movie tickets.

This fall, a raft of films will show on the silver screen, mostly marketed as anniversary rereleases: These include fractured family drama “Paris, Texas” (1984), basketball documentary “Hoop Dreams” (1994), zombies comedy “Shaun of the Dead” (2004), and sci-fi “Interstellar” (2014).

An Associated Press feature story by Jake Coyle notes that it’s not unusual for classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and the revered 1954 Japanese “Seven Samurai” to get rereleases. The new wrinkle is the large wave of titles of fairly recent vintage and not-so-long-ago anniversaries. And there are more than usual, which is due in part to Hollywood film output disrupted by two labor stoppages last year.

Some are getting promotional pushes other than simple nostalgia. For “Whiplash,” the taut music-school drama, an 18-piece orchestra will accompany screenings Nov. 9 and 10 at the motion picture academy’s theater in Beverly Hills (the general rerelease is Sept. 20). The conductor will be Oscar-winning composer Justin Hurwitz, who scored “Whiplash,” with $42-155 ticket price.

Studio Ghibli
Films from Japanese animation icon Studio Ghibli routinely succeed as cinema rereleases.

Any titles getting rerelease treatment are readily available on streaming services, video-on-demand and DVD collections in homes. But “the differential between theater and home is becoming less about what’s new and more about the viewing experience,” says the AP story. “Do you want to see ‘Jaws’ on your couch while flipping through your phone, or on a big screen with an audience collectively on the edge of their seats?”

The new trend augments individual cinemas mounting rerelease efforts, whether individual titles or part of recurring promotions. For example, theatrical rereleases of famed Japanese animation Studio Ghibli play across American cinemas in a sprawling annual festival. Some titles play at 1,000 theaters domestically (U.S. and Canada).

The AP story continues: “The trend isn’t likely to slow down any time soon. Studios now regularly comb through their archives and patiently await notable anniversaries.”

Related content:

  • Associated Press: Old Movies Get Cinema Rerelease

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