There are several factors that determine when and in what theatres movies play, ranging from producers who decide what audience they chose, to targeting theater managers who decide what films they choose to play in their theatres.
Producers originally decide how many copies they are going to make of a film and where the copies ought to be distributed based upon where they feel they will make the most money, said Bill Nelson, area manager of Geju Theatres, a theatre chain located in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
If the movie is a big name movie with well-known stars, such as the Star Wars films, and producers are confident that the film will be appealing to a wide audience, they will make the movie a wide release and send copies of the movie all over the nation.
The film Roll Bounce, about a group of youth in the 1970’s that dominate their local roller skating rink and starring Bow Wow, has a specific target audience and will be sent mainly to areas highly populated by that audience. The primary target for Roll Bounce is teens from 12 to 17 of all difference ethnicities, especially African Americans. Secondly, it is targeted for women 35 to 54, also African American. The third target would then probably be the family, but it was not produced specifically for a mainstream audience.
The film is a limited wide release and is not as mainstream as a movie like Star Wars, which was basically focused on many audiences, said a FoxSearchlight Representative, the Seattle company producing Roll Bounce.
However, Nelson said that, although producers ultimately decide where their movies will show, theatre managers also play a role in deciding what movies they choose to play in their theatres.
Jennifer Christensen, a freshman from Salt Lake City said that when she came to Rexburg she noticed that there was a difference in the number and selection of movies available in theatres compared with the movie selections that were available in areas of greater population like Salt Lake City.
Nelson said that in smaller towns, theatres are most often privately owned or are smaller movie theatre chains, and the owner and regional manager will decide what movies to get and where to show them. When they obtain a copy of a movie on the release date, they are required to keep the movie and show it for four weeks.
Therefore, if it is a theatre that won’t generate enough income for the entire four week period due to population size, typically the owner or manager will choose not to get the movie on its release date so that they only have to keep the film for one or two weeks.
Nelson said that in the case of the larger chain theatres typically owned by corporations and found in areas of greater population, several movies can be shown on their release dates in the theatres within the chain because they can generate a larger amount of income due to a greater population size and interest range.
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