Quoting gardibolt:

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Production Year has even more problems than theatrical release.  What do you do with movies that take more than one year to complete (not unusual with special effects pictures in particular, or low budget things that are completed as funds are available)?  How do you find out when the production occurred?

Copyright date is something entirely different from the year of production.

Fine, call it original copyright date then.  It's the year that's in the film's credits.

Quoting hal9g:

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Quoting gardibolt:

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Production Year has even more problems than theatrical release.  What do you do with movies that take more than one year to complete (not unusual with special effects pictures in particular, or low budget things that are completed as funds are available)?  How do you find out when the production occurred?

Copyright date is something entirely different from the year of production.

Fine, call it original copyright date then.  It's the year that's in the film's credits.

I can get behind that.

It's a PITA trying to find a production year for a new submission. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't required.

I can definitely agree with some sort of static date found on most (if not all) DVDs.

Quoting T!M:

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Quoting TheMadMartian:

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if I want to see a movie at the Cannes Film Festival, I have to be in Cannes and at the festival.  I can't see it in my local theater.

Surely that isn't the criterium we're looking for? I've got hundreds of films on DVD that never even got a theatrical release at all in my country - I clearly couldn't see them "at my local theater"... So for me, it doesn't really matter whether the film is shown in Cannes or in Los Angeles - in both cases, I'll probably wait for the DVD... 

"Nationwide" and "General" both are words that simply cannot be used as definitive criteria - I also can't believe that the above quote is strictly what TheMadMartian meant. How do we define nationwide? How many cities must be amongst the theatres running the first release showings?

I guess the simplest method - and one with least amount of wiggle room - would be to use the copyright year given in movie credits. If there is a renewed copyright year given, we'd be using the renewed year given.

BUT I personally am much more interested in the theatrical release year... If we can establish a sound and reliable source for this information (and I don't know one), I am all for this alternative. To distinquish a release as a general release compared to a limited one, I suggest the following:

If the theatrical release is one to which you can buy tickets as a member of general public (i.e. not having to belong to any club, society or union), it is a general release. It doesn't matter how geographically limited the release is... If I as a member of general public can view a showing in Cannes Film festival, IMO that definitely is a general release.

Now, where to find source for all this info, is a problem. If I release a movie "generally" in my home theatre tomorrow and everyone's invited, and then release it publicly on DVD 10 years later, is that a publicly theatrically released movie (in 2010) to be profiled

So no, I don't have a solution... sorry for flapping my lips. 

Quoting hal9g:

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Quoting widescreenforever:

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set the titles apart from films and just deal wit h DVD.. as we are not a movie profiler but DVD profiler..

Except that Production Year is an attribute of the film not the DVD.

Release date is an attribute of the DVD.

So, maybe what we need is :

1. DVD Release Date
2. Original Production Copyright Date
3. Re-Release Production Date
4. Film Festival Release Date
5. General Public Theatrical Release Date

I'm sure we can come up with a few others that someone would like to track!

Sometimes, I am thankful that Ken ignores the vast majority of the "ideas" that come up here!

I know you are being sarcastic, Hal . But still....Arrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skip

Quoting TheMadMartian:

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Quoting RHo:

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Would the exact release date be January 4th, 11th, or 18th? What about the smaller country theatres which have shown the film some weeks later for programming reasons?

That is a non-issue as the field doesn't use month or day, only the year.

So, you do not want to tell us how many theatres are necessary to release a film.

Quoting RHo:

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Quoting TheMadMartian:

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Quoting RHo:

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Would the exact release date be January 4th, 11th, or 18th? What about the smaller country theatres which have shown the film some weeks later for programming reasons?

That is a non-issue as the field doesn't use month or day, only the year.

So, you do not want to tell us how many theatres are necessary to release a film.

Your question was answered, just not the way you wanted. In fact, it was answered BEFORE you ever asked it.

Skip

...and sometimes only certain regions get DVD releases over other regions such as Neighbors (1981) ..

Quoting RHo:

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Quoting TheMadMartian:

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There is no exact number.  I have always considered it the general release, in theaters, nationwide.  Not a single screening in a single city.  You don't have to agree, but that is my opinion on the matter.

I have seen films opening with only a few copies because of economical reasons. I would consider those general releases the same way as those with many copies. No matter how many copies are used for the release, there are always regions where no theatre gets a copy at the release date. Do you still call those releases nation wide?

You are free to call them whatever you want.  What I gave is my opinion on the matter.  Clearly it isn't an opinion you agree with...and that is fine...but I am not going to quibble with you.