# Why release a movie in only eighteen theaters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539 "2010-09-03T21:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/21 "2010-09-05T21:28:27Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > While working at IDP in 2008 I asked the Print Manager about it and he told me they cost about the same as a standard print. He didn’t elaborate but they are not ‘just a file’ they are not a DVD. I think the people who invented the file type charge a fee to have the movie put into that file type. Since these are the same people who make their money off of printing ‘hard copies’ of movies, you don’t think they are going to slit their own throats on the physical print end by selling the digital conversion for nothing do you? The cost of a 35mm print is about $2,000, and the cost of a digital print is generally about the price of the hard disk it is delivered on: $100-200. [Cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinema#Economics) What the print manager may have been referring to is the practice of Virtual Print Fees. Under these plans, the studios, who are the primary beneficiaries of eliminating film prints, pay a fee somewhere between the price of the hard disk and the film print to a third party that finances the installation of digital projectors for the exhibitors. Without this mechanism, the theater chains would have little incentive to switch to digital. [This NYT article](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/movies/12scre.html)describes the VPF process. The print manager was right that the movies are not “just a file.” They are in a specially encrypted format that was developed by the [Digital Cinema Initiatives,](http://www.dcimovies.com/) a consortium formed by the major studios. The DCI spec is an open, non-proprietary format that was intended to avoid the problems of closed systems that the industry faced with digital sound and the early digital projection systems: multiple incompatible standards that required theaters to have many different kinds of hardware and distributors to maintain complex inventories. It was expensive and cumbersome for everyone involved, with no net benefit for anyone. The labs that produce film prints had nothing to do with developing the specs, although most of them now are also in the business of making digital prints. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/22 "2010-09-05T21:59:46Z")
Well, since I’ve already seen it, I don’t have to rely on reviews, but, eh, I don’t trust IMDB ratings at all. Have you ever read the message boards over there?! Even crappy movies can get high ratings there if they appeal to the lowest common denominator. _I Am Legend_ is at 7.1 on IMDB and I thought it was pretty damned awful. Rotten Tomatoes is a little more dependable to me, and they’ve got \*Centurion \*at 56% fresh. That’s not an unreasonable rating, to me, though I’d probably give it a 4 out of 10. The main problem with the movie is there is no one to really root for. The Romans are the invading horde committing atrocities against the natives, and yet I think we are meant to sympathize with the small group of Romans who are the center of the film. It’s hard to, though, since one of them is a villain and most of them are obviously “red shirts” who will fall along the way. The titular centurion is somewhat nobler than the rest, but he lacks any kind of charisma on screen. The Picts could be sympathetic, but they are portrayed mostly as faceless savages (not unlike the lawless cannibals in this director’s previous movie, _Doomsday_). The warrior-woman Pict (played by the Bond girl from Quantum of Solace) is interesting at least, if a bit cliche and a lot unbelievable, and she is one of the things I did like about the movie. _She_ had screen presence. The battle scenes have plenty of blood and gore, if that’s your thing, but a lot of the blood is digitally added and looks pretty fake. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/23 "2010-09-05T22:11:21Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > [The cost of a 35mm print is about $2,000, and the cost of a digital print is generally about the price of the hard disk it is delivered on: $100-200. [Cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinema#Economics) I stand corrected. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/24 "2010-09-05T22:59:44Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It needs to be shown in a theater in Los Angeles County to be eligible. > > Here are some of the rules: > > # for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County, > > # for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days, > > # advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry, Isn’t there also a rule that the movie cannot have been broadcast on television before its theatrical release? _The Last Seduction_ was supposedly ineligible for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/25 "2010-09-06T03:53:20Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > > [@Tangent](#): > > > > I watched \*Centurion \*on TV last week. HDNET Movies had it for a one-night only sneak preview. I think you can pay to watch it On Demand, too. But don’t–it’s not worth it. > > > > It’s not god-awful, but it’s not very good either. It feels very much like a direct-to-video release. I did have fun spotting some of the D-list actors that I’ve seen before, like “Mickey” from _Doctor Who_, the girl from the last _Bond_ movie, and the girl from the story-within-the-story of _V for Vendetta_. > > It’s got a 6.5 out of 10 on IMDB so far - that’s not too shabby. My personal cut-off for Imdb is 7.0 in the absence of any other information to complement it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539/26 "2010-09-06T03:56:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > > > It needs to be shown in a theater in Los Angeles County to be eligible. > > > > Here are some of the rules: > > > > # for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County, > > > > # for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days, > > > > # advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry, > > Isn’t there also a rule that the movie cannot have been broadcast on television before its theatrical release? _The Last Seduction_ was supposedly ineligible for this reason. IIRC, the original Japanese version of _Shall We Dance?_ was ruled ineligible for the Best Foreign-Language award because it had appeared on TV in that country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-release-a-movie-in-only-eighteen-theaters/552539.md?page=1)