How movie studios work

Since I am on the Nova Theatre Board, a lot of people ask why the Nova has to wait a few weeks to run a movie when it is already in other theatres, doesn’t get this movie or that movie, or has to run a movie for two weeks, etc. So I thought I would explain how the studios work.

First off, it depends on how many copies they make of the movie. And of course, the studios will always work first with large multi-plex theatres in the cities to get their movies out to the most people, so they can make the most money! That’s just good business. Then the little one-screen theatres can schedule the movie a week or two after it opens. This also depends on how popular the movie is. If it is a blockbuster, the Nova may have to wait up to three to four weeks before it comes to town because the bigger theatres are going to keep their copy as long as people keep coming to see it or the studio makes more copies.

The only time the Nova gets a first run movie is if we agree to show it for two to three weeks. Or if it is a Disney movie. That is the way Disney runs and they always want the movie to run for at least two weeks. And just know, Disney now owns all of the Fox Studio movies, so that entails quite a selection of the new and old movies.

Also, streaming has taken over since the pandemic and some movies go straight to streaming and are not even considered for the big screen. Case in point, the much-anticipated “Hocus Pocus 2” will NOT be shown in theatres and will go straight to streaming on Disney+ on September 30th.

Some studios state they can make more money from its viewers that way then showing it in theatres. That is because they get all of the income from the home viewers, whereas, if it goes to the theatres, they have to split the ticket sales with the theatre owners. What they don’t tell you is that split is anywhere from 35% to 70% or more (usually on the higher end) going to the studios with the theatres getting the remainder. Now you know why popcorn and concessions are so darn expensive. And sometimes that percentage changes to an even higher number if the film is doing better than anticipated.

And for why the Nova doesn’t get some movies, that is because we are only open on the weekends and have only one screen, so we try to schedule movies that will appeal to the most people in our town. We always consider everyone’s requests, but a lot of movies do not make it on our schedule due to a limited amount of copies, especially if it is from an independent studio, which covers a lot of the faith-based movies. So we do what we can, when we can, mixing it up to show a variety of movies from children/animated movies to action/adventure, romance, horror, mystery and comedy.

And when we show FREE movies, we pay a fee to show it, which is usually covered by the generosity of a business, grant, or individual. And NO Disney/Fox movies can be shown, ever! (Their rules, not ours.)

The studio rules keep changing and we will keep going with the flow. Our movie broker works hard to procure the best movies out there, and in this phase of the business, we try to get the “In Theatres Only” movies as soon as we can since they do go to streaming three or four weeks after it is first released. So thank heavens for movies like “Top Gun: Maverick” as well as the upcoming “In Theatres Only” or at least, in theatres two or three weeks before streaming, movies like “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile,” “Black Adam,” “Ticket to Paradise,” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”