A Lesson About the Movies

It’s time for another lesson from the Filmbuff’s Guide to Moviegoing. Movies are a released on an informal schedule based upon their quality. If you can recognize this schedule, you should be able to determine the quality of a film before you even see it. It should be noted that this schedule applies to Hollywood studio films. American independent and especially foreign films do not follow this pattern.

January through mid-April: Bad movies. This is the one of the two times of year that studios release the films that even they know are bad. School is back in session and credit card bills are high. Additionally, people tend to me “movied-out” after a busy holiday season. With audiences trending smaller this time of year anyway, studios try to sneak out their garbage when no one will notice.

Mid-April through Mid-July: Summer blockbusters. This is when the big budget, big star, small plot, and small concept films are released. This is the time of summer vacation. As a result, action movies and sophomoric comedies dominate this time of year. The largest budget movies are released here and the most revenue is taken in. The quality of these films can be mixed.

Mid-July through Mid-October: Sleeper season. This is another time of the year where audience size is down and as a result so is movie quality. That being said, studios will try so sneak in sleeper films here. These are films that would probably crumble when facing heavy competition during other times of the year. This is the time of year that a smaller quality film like “Rush Hour” can lead the box office for several weeks.

Mid-October through December: The holiday/Oscar season. Movie studios want their films to win Oscar and will move better films or films with great performances to this time of year. They know that releasing a film closer to nomination time will help its chances. To qualify for an Oscar a film must be released in New York and LA (because they are the center of the world) by December 31st. For this reason, the best films will typically be released in December.