# Why don't local movie listings indicate a Ending Date? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833 "2015-05-12T03:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/1 "2015-05-12T03:09:21Z")
Just found out that I got screwed out of seeing The Wrecking Crew. It was on about a week and half locally. I only waited patiently to see this damn movie for three long years. :smack: The previews of interviews have been on youtube for that long. I wanted to go with a good friend that is a musician too. So, like an idiot I didn’t drop everything, totally rearrange my life, and go the first week. Now I have to settle for seeing it in my living room on dvd with a 14" Sony CRT from 1985. The speaker is about three inches. yeah, that’s going to be really thrilling entertainment. It’s happened dozens of times throughout my life. You look at the listings, see a movie that’s interesting and it’s gone before I can get down there. Wouldn’t a Ending Date drive up ticket sales? Wouldn’t that be a good thing for the box office? WTH don’t they give one? So that people can actually, you know? Make Plans?? I no longer consult the listings in the newspaper. Yahoo showtimes gives the same info. But there’s still no ending date for when it leaves your theater forever and ever. :rolleyes: [https://www.yahoo.com/movies/showtimes](https://www.yahoo.com/movies/showtimes) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/2 "2015-05-12T03:19:18Z")
I think a lot of times theaters don’t know how long they’re going to be showing something because of popularity. For instance, Frozen was being shown well, well into the next year while the same can’t be said of Big Hero 6. They do tend to list end dates for one week special features and such though, IME. But I think they only really mention it on the promotional material in the theater, it probably would be good to do it on ticket sites as well. ---
**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/3 "2015-05-12T03:20:31Z")
Theater rental contracts end on Thursdays. Generally speaking, a theater will not decide until Monday night whether to hold a film over for the following Friday-Thursday cycle. Most movies begin with a 2 or 4 week contract and then are renewed week-to-week depending on performance. Almost every theater will now show you their Friday schedule on their website as soon as it’s determined on the prior Monday or Tuesday. You can get a 3 or 4 day advance notice that your time to see a film is running out. There is no “ending date” to publish before then because it’s totally based on a week-to-week decision. For smaller, arthouse type movies, you generally only have one week – the theaters that show these are trying to turn over product as quickly as possible to draw an audience, since each individual film has limited appeal. Their thinking is that you will make an effort to see the film when they have it, because it’s not Avengers where it’s going to be in first run for three months and then move to the dollar houses. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/4 "2015-05-12T03:26:37Z")
If I was the owner of the flick house, I would look at ticket sales. That would determine the end date. Why show the flick to an empty house? But, maybe these days there aren’t owners of a flick house. It is all corporate. And the ending date is determined by other forces. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/5 "2015-05-12T03:28:03Z")
What got me completely flummoxed is they seemed to have pulled The Wrecking Crew from all theaters nationwide. Like it never even existed. I can’t find a showtime for it anywhere. It absolutely was running in my city last week (May 3,4,5 etc). I think it started that earlier Thursday, April 30. I can’t even drive to another city to see it. I preordered the dvd from Amazon. best that I can do. Hell they’ll probably have a limited printing of the dvd’s. these people don’t seem to give a shit about their own movie or letting the public see it. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/6 "2015-05-12T03:46:00Z")
From iMDB : > [@](#): > > Opening Weekend > $56,858 (USA) (15 March 2015) (7 Screens) > > Gross > $535,230 (USA) (12 April 2015) > $440,796 (USA) (5 April 2015) > $325,839 (USA) (29 March 2015) > $179,641 (USA) (22 March 2015) > $56,858 (USA) (15 March 2015) > > Weekend Gross > $45,540 (USA) (12 April 2015) (60 Screens) > $71,502 (USA) (5 April 2015) (65 Screens) > $98,766 (USA) (29 March 2015) (54 Screens) > $98,413 (USA) (22 March 2015) (37 Screens) > $56,858 (USA) (15 March 2015) (7 Screens) Total (US, as of 5/8/15)) - $732,231 What theater owner is going to keep this screening in front of empty seats when they could have \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (fill in the blank)? I’m sympathetic - I’ve missed several films I’d have liked to see big-screen. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/7 "2015-05-12T03:52:35Z")
It’s a shame they didn’t properly promote it. This is/was living history that just barely got saved. The producer did most of the studio musician’s interviews in the late 90’s. Several died since then. The producer’s dad was one of them and I don’t think he got interviewed in time. Thank goodness they interviewed Glen Campbell in the 90’s while he was still ok. He has Alzheimer’s now. Release was held up by a decade of negotiating for the rights to use the music. The public has no idea of the ground breaking music history they missed out on. Not just Rock either. The Wrecking Crew worked with Sinatra, Dean Martin, Beach Boys a list a mile long. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/8 "2015-05-12T04:05:22Z")
Probably didn’t have a lot of special effects. That is what the masses want. But, you sold me on it, and will look for it. I will see it on my 15 inch laptop. But, it does have some kick-ass speakers! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/9 "2015-05-12T04:10:13Z")
Good point. My laptop plugs into [Logitech speakers](http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/03/04/Logitech_Z313_angled.jpg)on wall shelves. (the bass box is on the floor) Use it regularly listening to music in bed. I have the speakers setup for really good stereo effects. That would be the best place to play this music documentary. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/10 "2015-05-12T04:29:30Z")
In Japan, listings usually have a one-week notice before finaly screening where it says something similar to “Final Week” or “Ends May 22nd”. Also, the time the movie ends is also shown. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/11 "2015-05-12T06:10:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > What got me completely flummoxed is they seemed to have pulled The Wrecking Crew from all theaters nationwide. Like it never even existed. I can’t find a showtime for it anywhere. It absolutely was running in my city last week (May 3,4,5 etc). I think it started that earlier Thursday, April 30. I can’t even drive to another city to see it. > > I preordered the dvd from Amazon. best that I can do. Hell they’ll probably have a limited printing of the dvd’s. these people don’t seem to give a shit about their own movie or letting the public see it. It [peaked at 65 cinemas nationwide](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekly&id=wreckingcrew.htm) and is now down to 32. There’s still a [couple of screenings](http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/screenings.php) on the schedule if you happen to be near any of those places. Based on the pre-defined screening schedule, it’s likely the distributors were [four walling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_wall_distribution) the release. Four walling is where you pay to book out an entire theatre for a given night and get all of the proceeds from the ticket sales. The theatre doesn’t care how many people show up because they get paid either way. So unlike normal movies where the theatre decides when to pull a film based on ticket sales, in this case, the distributor decided based on how much they could afford to spend promoting it, which is why the disappearance seemed so co-ordinated. It’ll probably appear on Netflix within the year and that, along with VOD sales is where they hope to gain the bulk of their revenue and viewership. The theatrical release was basically a promotion for the online release. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/12 "2015-05-12T08:36:08Z")
Thank you Shalmanese. It helps to know the circumstances. I would have been there the first day or so dad I been aware it was so limited. I saw it listed at my local multiplex and thought it was a normal several week release. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/13 "2015-05-12T11:28:23Z")
Um, you do realize that _The Wrecking Crew_ was released to film festivals in 2008? It showed at eleven such festivals over the next year and a half. It had problems with getting the rights to the music, so it got shelved till this year when they were able to settle those rights: > **[The Wrecking Crew! (2008) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185418/)** > > The Wrecking Crew!: Directed by Denny Tedesco. With Brian Wilson, Dick Clark, Cher, Herb Alpert. A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew", a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such... ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/14 "2015-05-12T11:39:53Z")
Incidentally, it looks like you can already [rent it for $7](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UMX6WPC?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_aiv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_aiv-20) on Amazon. Just do that if you want to watch it this week. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/15 "2015-05-12T15:52:40Z")
**aceplace57** , if you haven’t already watched it, you might like [“Pet Stories”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0vAL8dHBxA) (link is to YouTube), a documentary about the making of the _Pet Sounds_ album that includes interviews with several members of the Wrecking Crew, like Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/16 "2015-05-17T09:05:38Z")
It may be too late, but you might want to see if you have a friend who has a projector. That’s what I always did when I missed a movie in theaters. Though I would borrow the projector at my church at Thanksgiving, when we would rent out the gym. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/17 "2015-05-17T10:20:26Z")
The general Thread topic is an interesting enough question and we’ve gotten some good answers … > [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s a shame they didn’t properly promote it. …but this is just sour grapes. I mean, I sympathize with you- I’ve had similar experiences- but it’s a documentary which, almost by definition, means it has limited commercial appeal. You’ve learned a good lesson which may get you to phone the theater next time there’s a niche market kind of a film you want to see. You can’t count on these kinds of films sticking around for weeks. Don’t go blaming it on the promotion. It was promoted enough that you knew about it, knew when it opened in your town and at what theater. The only thing you didn’t know about was when your local theater was going to stop showing it. Truth is, there was tremendous buzz around this film and great anticipation for its release. I saw it on a Wednesday night following opening weekend and the theater was _packed_- my friends and I almost couldn’t all sit together. This film was very well promoted by documentary standards. Pretty much everyone who takes an interest in documentaries knew about the release of this film. I’d say it was promoted far better than the similarly themed _20 Feet From Stardom_ released just a couple years ago which relied heavily on word-of-mouth post-release. The target audience for _The Wrecking Crew_ knew about it well ahead of the theatrical release. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/18 "2015-05-17T20:45:27Z")
I took no chances and preordered the dvd. No joke. Even that may be a limited pressing. The dvd might be hard to find within a year. I’ve seen that happen. I waited for fifteen years for the original three Jim Croce albums to be released on CD. I bought mine ASAP. Two years later those CD’s were out of print. Croce’s estate has been in litigation over his music rights ever since he died. There’s several Croce hits CD’s easily available. But the original albums are tough to find if you missed that one time CD release. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/19 "2015-05-17T20:55:25Z")
**update** I was curious and checked Amazon. The original Croce CD albums are back in stock. They must have finally pressed more. A close friend of mine tried buying them in 2010. Had to pay ridiculous prices on Ebay because they were so rare. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833/20 "2015-08-09T10:48:10Z")
FYI, it’s [now available on Netflix](http://www.netflix.com/title/70105364). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-local-movie-listings-indicate-a-ending-date/719833.md?page=2)