Movies that would have made money with a different release date

[dr. wai]

The Frighteners

For some reason, Universal thought that an R-rated horror-comedy from an unproven (box office) director would work during the Olympics that were also taking place in the States where the viewing public has more of a vested interest. I am not saying that the film should have opened in October as Jackson wanted, but it should not have come out in the summer. The film feels like a film that should have been released in the fall. The advertising wasn't all that great either, but the release date hurt the film more than anything.

[UltraMario9]

The Nice Guys
West Side Story (2021)

[Canada]

Originally Posted by levcore

Any good examples of movies that were arguably just released at the wrong time/ given a bad release date? As a result the movies flopped/ lost money.

I do wonder with Matrix Resurrections and Kings Man being released at the same time and so close to the Spidey juggernaut that it seems almost like the studio is throwing their money away.

Any examples from previous years of this?

One of the reasons why Matrix Resurrections might lose money is it can also be seen/streamed on HBO MAX day and date.

[Canada]

I think that Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the David Fincher version I believe would have made more money if it were released in the summer and not at Christmas time. People I have thought didn't want to see a film where there was a brutal rape around Christmas time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4f_83t_rw

[Leslie Dame]

There was a bit of controversy when Miramax decided to release Halloween H20: 20 Years Later in early August. However, this unusual strategy proved to be profitable. H20 made $55m and became the highest-grossing film in the Halloween franchise. I should note it had no big competition on release day either.
Would it made more if it had been released in October? Nobody knows for sure.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Gizz

Star Trek: Nemesis going up against Die Another Day, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. While I like Star Trek: Nemesis very much I like it more then the other films there was no way it could compete against them.

Yeah, the release date for Nemesis was a really dumb move on Paramount's part. They should've pushed it to the summer of 2003, where there weren't nearly as many high-profile movies coming out. There was no way it was going to survive against both Chamber of Secrets and The Two Towers.

[GLaDOS]

Tenet: the thread

[Samus Aran]

Sniper came out on Super Bowl weekend. It was never going to be a big hit, but the target audience was already busy that weekend.

[Monterey Jack]

Grindhouse dropping on Easter weekend, leading to the only outright flop in Tarantino's career.

[CreasyBear]

Superman Returns would have done much better with a Christmas release.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by D00mM4r1n3

Sorcerer (1977) - opening amidst Star Wars was fatal.

Wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference: Smokey and the Bandit opened the same week as Star Wars and was a massive hit while The Deep and A Bridge Too Far opened the same time as Sorcerer and pulled in the kind of money Sorcerer needed to be a hit. The audience had tired of nihilism: it was two years too late to be a hit.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference: Smokey and the Bandit opened the same week as Star Wars and was a massive hit while The Deep and A Bridge Too Far opened the same time as Sorcerer and pulled in the kind of money Sorcerer needed to be a hit. The audience had tired of nihilism: it was two years too late to be a hit.

The thread title should have a more speculative bent.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

The thread title should have a more speculative bent.

"Movies that coulda, woulda, shoulda..."?

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

"Movies that coulda, woulda, shoulda..."?

Movies that coulda been a contender!

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by ImBlu_DaBaDee

Last Action Hero - opened against Jurassic Park

It might have made a bit more money but its failure had nothing to do with Jurassic Park. There were a lot of things that didn't work in that film, not least of which the overly goofy humour which didn't play well to your typical fan of Arnie's action flicks. Saying that releasing it against Jurassic Park makes a good excuse for the apologists but that film would've flopped regardless.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

It might have made a bit more money but its failure had nothing to do with Jurassic Park. There were a lot of things that didn't work in that film, not least of which the overly goofy humour which didn't play well to your typical fan of Arnie's action flicks. Saying that releasing it against Jurassic Park makes a good excuse for the apologists but that film would've flopped regardless.

Plus its troubled production and runaway budget had been leaving it trailing bad press for a year despite initially seeming like a sure thing when it was greenlit: even before its catastrophic preview it was widely regarded as a disaster waiting to happen. If anything Arnie's starpower meant it overperformed at the box-office with its $137m gross.