Discuss @RyanF 's latest article here
I will admit to misreading the (((title))) of this article, and being very worried about my membership of this forum.
I think simultaneous release might have been delayed, but it would have become the norm eventually, as technology reached the point where bootleg recording and distribution becomes an issue. At the same time, it's much easier to release a film the same day across the world now that it no longer involves shipping bulky reels. I remember when my father managed a movie hall in the 1980s, and every week he received the stacks of film reels by special delivery, which then had to be spliced together in the projection room. Now you just download the thing and call it a day.Without Jaws proving just how much there was to be made in a wide Summer release the record set by The Godfather might have held for as long as that of Gone with the Wind, perhaps widespread marketing campaigns would not become the norm and films would still rely on word of mouth and critics to convince people to buy tickets, and perhaps wide releases across the globe would never become the norm and we would still see a staggered release into large cities and then trickle down into smaller markets.
I think simultaneous release might have been delayed, but it would have become the norm eventually, as technology reached the point where bootleg recording and distribution becomes an issue. At the same time, it's much easier to release a film the same day across the world now that it no longer involves shipping bulky reels. I remember when my father managed a movie hall in the 1980s, and every week he received the stacks of film reels by special delivery, which then had to be spliced together in the projection room. Now you just download the thing and call it a day.
I'd say it would have to be after the point where VCRs have become a common household item, and video cameras are small enough that they can be easily smuggled into movie halls. So how about Ghostbusters?Of course that just begs the question which film is the 'lucky' one that happens to hit the right moment to become big because this technology's arrived.