What happens to al those film prints?

[Steve Shovlar]

A question I have always asked myself but never have the answer.

After a film has been released worldwide to 10,000 cinemas, what happens to all those 35mm prints? Do they get stored in a monster warehose forever, or are they thrown away and a few saved for limited release at a later date?

 

[steadicamsteel]

I believe they are destroyed (shredded) and dumped into land fill.

 

[KMR]

Kodak has a program for recycling film stock. Part of the process recovers silver from the prints.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/hse/recycleInCam1-02.jhtml