• Xenforo Cloud is upgrading us to version 2.3.8 on Monday February 16th, 2026 at 12:00 AM PST. Expect a temporary downtime during this process. More info here

Movies Why aren't old movies re-released in theatres?

MicroBrew

Plutonium Belt
@plutonium
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Messages
52,977
Reaction score
25,404
Wouldn't it be great if classics like Terminator 2 were re-released in the theatres? I think there would be a huge demand. So why don't the companies and people who own the rights to these movies do it?
 
It's a financial thing. New releases make money because the distribution company plows money into advertising and promotions. It's why some cult films were flops because the promotion sucked.

You'd have to find distribution companies willing to pump money into promoting a movie that is already out there for anyone to see free of charge. It's doubtful they'd make their money back.
 
What you have had happen quite often in the last few years is a film will get a new 4K scan and a small scale cinema release will happen first before it ends up on UHD disk and streaming.

I'd say the reason we don't see more of it is that multiplex style cinema tickets have become so expensive, the general public only tends to go to the cinema now to see new "event" films.
 
Classic movies are re-released to theaters all the time, Fifth Element, Jaws, Grease, Halloween, Titanic were among the classics re-released in 2022, only a small niche audience goes to see them, the massive demand and profits youre imagining dont really happen
 
Last edited:
If you live near a college town I bet there is a repertory theater that shows classic movies. I've seen: JAWS, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf, and a few others in the Theatre.

An enjoyable experience.
 
Classic movies are re-released to theaters all the time, Fifth Element, Jaws, Grease, Halloween, Titanic were among the classics re-released in 2022, only a small niche audience goes to see them, the massive demand and profits youre imagining dont really happen
I watched the 40th anniversary of Connan the Barbarian in theaters and it was awesome. I wasn't even alive when it first was released.
 
I'd actually pay big money to be able to see Kubrick's films in the theatre.

As for other older films in more recent times. I did see the Fly with David Cronenberg and Greens Davis sitting right next to me once upon a time.
 
There is an old timey theater that does that in our town. This month, they showed Christmas Vacation.

It would have been cool if they showed It's a Wonderful Life.
 
There is a small theater near me that does that. The floors are kinda gross though.
 
Pick up your local CityPaper and easily find a theater that screens 80's/90's films.
There's at least 1 theater in every city in the US that does this.
It's usually a small theater though, so don't expect an IMAX experience.
 
I saw Dark Crystal, The Wall, and Spirited Away in theater this year. You just have to keep an eye out for screening in your area.
 
I have a theater by me that ONLY does re releases. They have Black and White Weds, 80s thursdays, Blockbuster Saturdays...its great and tickets are only 8 bucks.
 
BTW how fucking cool is this??

Jaws-on-the-Water-2016-by-Alamo-Drafthouse.jpg
 
I remember about a decade ago they were doing a lot of re-releases of movies.

Titanic, Star Wars Episode I (idunno why they stopped there), Lion King, etc.

I thought it was gonna be a permanent thing, but it didn't last that long.
 
Classic movies are re-released to theaters all the time, Fifth Element, Jaws, Grease, Halloween, Titanic were among the classics re-released in 2022, only a small niche audience goes to see them, the massive demand and profits youre imagining dont really happen
Did not notice any classic over here, even though we got plenty of theatres and real fancy ones too.
 
Back
Top