Theatrical runs, studios, theatres, and physical media. Does anybody here know?

[Russ.W.]

Please forgive me if this is in the wrong forum. I was going to post it in the Film sub-forum, but was unsure.



OK, so last week I had the pleasure of watching John Hughes' The Breakfast Club, on the big screen. Yes, my local "major" cinema chain had two screenings over a weekend. One afternoon session on both the Saturday and Sunday.

I couldn't resist. I'm a fan of his early "teen" flicks, and am too young to have been allowed to see them upon initial release. Watching this in a cinema less than 10 minutes drive from my home was a no-brainer.

Occasionally, there are retro screenings for films, but they're usually more action oriented films, and more often than not, relevant to an upcoming release. Eg: a couple cinemas have had, or are advertising, a Mad Max 1 & 2 double feature, leading up to the release of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Anyway, after watching it, I got to thinking, "why don't more cinemas do this?". Sure, they're not going to bring in Avengers money, but if you have a light release schedule coming up, why not throw in a few sessions of a classic film?


So my real questions are (and there's more than a few of them) ...

Upon initial release:
How does it work, between distributor and cinema? A distributor sends out the film to individual cinemas ... then what? How long can they screen them for?
Once finished, what happens? Do they send them back?
Do they wait until they're asked to return them?
Are they destroyed?
Are cinemas given the option to "buy" the roll of film to screen at their pleasure (for monetary compensation per ticket sale, of course)?

What about 20 years down the track?
How does it happen?

Any and all information regarding this type of situation, please chime in.

I'm not planning on buying a theatre, so there's no practical value in my knowing. I'm simply interested in how it comes about, as I don't believe I ever read/heard how the process actually works.

Thanks for your time. Hope I didn't waste it.

Regards,
Russ

 

[paulears]

The cinemas essentially hire the movie, for a specific time, and haven't really changed the system much since when I first worked in an arts theatre that screened art movies. You booked what you wanted for the set period and sent it back. Very often you could get bigger movies at a discount once they've dropped off the radar, but the prints would also be pretty horrible and worn. Now although delivery media is variable the same system applies. The best managers are the ones that are good at programming and doing the deals - my friend who runs a cinema talks about getting the blockbusters often depends on agreeing to take other stuff that he really doesn't want!