# Why do some movies get released late in the U.S? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814 "2013-04-27T02:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/21 "2013-04-27T23:45:40Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > For a long time “Summer” didn’t start until Memorial Day Weekend. Summer got streached up to the first weekend in May. > > Distributors, look at how much films gross and when. (there is actually huge database of this) In the US, a film opening on the first weekend of May has historically grossed more then a film that has opened the last week of April. > > I was surprised that Oblivion, a huge budget sci-fi film starring Tom (Freaking) Cruise opened in April. That explains (and makes sense) why they’re opening in may instead of april in the US, but not why they don’t just hold international release until that same date. Do films in late april do better than early may elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/22 "2013-04-28T03:33:23Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think a good case can be made that Downey Jr. is currently the biggest movie star in the world. Biggest Hollywood star, arguably. But if you’re judging based on sheer popularity criteria, along the lines of how many human souls on this planet have heard of an actor and/or recognize his face, I doubt that Downey is up there with, say, the Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/23 "2013-04-28T05:57:26Z")
Are Indian stars well-known outside of India? I really have no idea how widely-distributed Bollywood and other Indian films are. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/24 "2013-04-28T06:05:37Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > That explains (and makes sense) why they’re opening in may instead of april in the US, but not why they don’t just hold international release until that same date. Do films in late april do better than early may elsewhere? Maybe? The “seasons” are opposite in Australia. They are heading into “Winter”. My guess is that the data base is now world wide, since the distribution companies are basically world wide organizations and they push using the same practices. I don’t know what drives attendance in China? What is their “school year”? How many screens does China now have at how many locations? Are the movie choices driven by 18 to 24 year old males? (Is Regal building locations there? What’s at their concession stand? :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/25 "2013-04-28T06:26:12Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > The “seasons” are opposite in Australia. They are heading into “Winter”. It’s not pretend winter, no need for the quotes. Sometimes it snows and everything! The Australian and New Zealand school breaks happen four times a year, rather than just once (or twice if you count Christmas as a school break in the US and UK, and you probably do). These are six weeks at December/January, two weeks at the ends of March, June, and September, or thereabouts. They tend to release big movies at those times, if they can. Usually this means a delay from America’s release dates, but lately it’s occasionally been ahead of the US release by sometimes as much as four weeks. The release of _Iron Man 3_ and _Star Trek Into Darkness_ etc does not coincide with School Holiday breaks (last break was over Easter), so I don’t know what the reasoning is behind it, beyond the aforementioned jump-start on piracy. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/26 "2013-04-28T08:04:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Are Indian stars well-known outside of India? I really have no idea how widely-distributed Bollywood and other Indian films are. I know Indian films are popular in North Africa and the Middle East. And oddly Russia & the former Soviet Union. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/27 "2013-04-28T09:03:57Z")
It never occurred to me before, but how do the kinds of films opening in the summer differ from those opening in the winter in the Southern Hemisphere? In the U.S., it’s standard to talk about the difference between summer blockbusters and Oscar bait. There’s a strong tendency to open movies that are expected to get Oscar nominations toward the end of the year, approximately late November through late December. The thought is that you want Oscar voters to have those films fresh in their minds. It also helps get the films on the film critics’ best-of-the-year lists for the same reason. On the other hand, movies that are expected to be blockbusters but which aren’t expected to get Oscar nominations open at the beginning of summer, approximately late May through late June. The thought is that you will be hitting high school and college students who have time off. Films that are expected to be sleepers, those that don’t have big stars, directors, or writers but which might get good word of mouth after they open, tend to avoid both times in order not to get lost among films which will open with lots of recognition already. I have no idea if this works outside the U.S. I can’t find much discussion of this online. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/28 "2013-04-28T15:49:13Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Biggest Hollywood star, arguably. But if you’re judging based on sheer popularity criteria, along the lines of how many human souls on this planet have heard of an actor and/or recognize his face, I doubt that Downey is up there with, say, the Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan. I agree with this, in that Shahrukh Khan is probably a much bigger star in terms of face and name recognition (unless you’re American, but hell, I’m a Kansas farm girl transplanted to Chicago and not even particularly into Bollywood films, and I’ve probably seen at least 10 of his movies). As far as biggest International Hollywood actors, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks(?) might be up there with RDJ. What say non-American Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/29 "2013-04-28T16:06:38Z")
A lot of the money to make Iron Man 3 came from China. There is additional content with Chinese stars which will not be in the American version. That could be a factor for the different release dates. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814/30 "2013-04-29T01:49:02Z")
It looks like Iron Man 3 is [doing very well](http://movies.yahoo.com/news/box-office-report-iron-man-3-opens-massive-050000358.html). > [@](#): > > Marvel Studios and Disney’s Iron Man 3 has blasted into the stratosphere overseas, opening to $195.3 million from 42 markets to beat last year’s global blockbuster The Avengers, which debuted to $185.1 million internationally. > > Box office observers agree that Iron Man 3 is playing more like a sequel to last summer’s The Avengers – which featured a myriad of Marvel superheroes, including Downey’s Iron Man – than a follow-up to Iron Man 2, which posted a foreign opening of roughly $100 million in 2010. > > Iron Man 3 broke a slew of records, scoring the biggest weekend ever in Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It also scored the top Marvel opening in another raft of markets. > > … And it’s at [92%](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_3/) at Rotten Tomatoes! It looks like it will be one of those rare movies that are critical and box office successes. The only country in the world to get it after the USA (and Canada, Lithuania and Turkey)? Poor Poland. > [@](#): > > UK 18 April 2013 (London) (premiere) > Australia 24 April 2013 > Belgium 24 April 2013 > Finland 24 April 2013 > France 24 April 2013 > Iceland 24 April 2013 > Italy 24 April 2013 > Netherlands 24 April 2013 > Philippines 24 April 2013 > Sweden 24 April 2013 > Taiwan 24 April 2013 > Argentina 25 April 2013 > Bolivia 25 April 2013 > Bosnia and Herzegovina 25 April 2013 > Chile 25 April 2013 > Croatia 25 April 2013 > Denmark 25 April 2013 > Greece 25 April 2013 > Hong Kong 25 April 2013 > Hungary 25 April 2013 > New Zealand 25 April 2013 > Peru 25 April 2013 > Portugal 25 April 2013 > Republic of Macedonia 25 April 2013 > Singapore 25 April 2013 > South Korea 25 April 2013 > UK 25 April 2013 > Brazil 26 April 2013 > Bulgaria 26 April 2013 > Estonia 26 April 2013 > India 26 April 2013 > Ireland 26 April 2013 > Japan 26 April 2013 > Malaysia 26 April 2013 > Mexico 26 April 2013 > Norway 26 April 2013 > Romania 26 April 2013 > Spain 26 April 2013 > Vietnam 26 April 2013 > Germany 1 May 2013 > South Africa 1 May 2013 > Thailand 1 May 2013 > Cambodia 2 May 2013 > Israel 2 May 2013 > Kuwait 2 May 2013 > Lebanon 2 May 2013 > Russia 2 May 2013 > Serbia 2 May 2013 > Slovenia 2 May 2013 > Ukraine 2 May 2013 > United Arab Emirates 2 May 2013 > Canada 3 May 2013 > Lithuania 3 May 2013 > Turkey 3 May 2013 > USA 3 May 2013 > Poland 9 May 2013 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-movies-get-released-late-in-the-u-s/656814.md?page=1)