anime not shown in many theatres

[dfnshow]

by some goof i saw that appleseed was coming to theatres january 14...so i hit the homepage to find what theatres it was playing in and i was shocked to find that it playing in only 3 theatres in illinois...3 !!!! why is it so damn hard to put anime in a theatre but we have no problems pushing crap movies like fat albert and racing stripes in a crapload of theatres? i mean come on...3 theatres for a whole state? bullshit !!!

[Cronos]

its because Anime isnt widely appreciated (unlike the recycled hollywood shite), when Spirited Away was released i was really happy to see it in the upcoming attractions for my local cinema but come the release date...nothing

[kungfuchris]

The movie theatres are probably trying to keep the hordes of smelly nerds away from their establishments, and scaring off their other customers.

[Badbird]

We've tried playing Anime here. Except for Princess Mononoke, which had somewhat of a wide release, we showed Metropolis, The Wolf Brigade, and Sprigan at our theater, Cowboy Bebop played at another one in town... and NOBODY SHOWED.

That's the reason it isn't played anywhere.

[rilocay]

Originally posted by Badbird
We've tried playing Anime here. Except for Princess Mononoke, which had somewhat of a wide release, we showed Metropolis, The Wolf Brigade, and Sprigan at our theater, Cowboy Bebop played at another one in town... and NOBODY SHOWED.

That's the reason it isn't played anywhere.

IS that maybe 'cause its not marketed enough or properly? Because at Universities (or college for you americans), when they are showed they hav very full screenings...so whats the missing connection???

[CMAGUS]

I don't like the fact they never get wide releases.It will never happen they don't even review them they just slap an R rating on them and away they go unless disney releases it,It pisses me off.You want to know why no one showed up for cowboy bebop becasue the put a fucking R rating on it.To prove my point Cowboy bebop gets and R rating for what? R some violent images and that's it.Alot of the people who watch these shows are teenagers by putting an R rating for that kind of bullshit there goes half the people right there.Even the new apple seed is R which makes absolutley no sense the film is barely pg-13.It's absolutley ridiculous.Spirited away wins best animated feature at the oscars and yet it get's a tiny release and shit like Boat trip got a full release at the same time ,and spirited away made more money.

[Voodoodoll]

I can understand them not getting wide distribution because they do have a niche market. They should be readily available at your local arts cinema though, right? I found that to be the case in England.

[dfnshow]

marketing is the major reason...look at the final fantasy movie ...saw trailer for in 1/12 to 2 years before it came out then nothing..i can understand not a wide release but only 3 theatres in illinois? come on. gost in the shell 2: innocence was the same way...no real marketing either...and dreamworks really dropped the ball on that one...that could have been the movie to really break open anime to the public..but they had they're head up their asses.

[Beeblebrox]

It's not just marketing. There simply isn't a mass audience for anime in American cinemas...yet. Wishing that weren't true doesn't make it not true. And no amount of marketing will help. If it's going to grow, and it is growing, it has to be by word of mouth and exposure from friends and colleagues. It's easy to say studios should just spend more money on marketing; it's not your money. A big expensive marketing push will only burn whatever studio attempts it, and then they'll never release another anime film again. For now, it's just going to have to be a niche market. When it's ready to bust out into the main stream cinemas with a wide release, it will.

[Badbird]

Originally posted by rilocay
IS that maybe 'cause its not marketed enough or properly? Because at Universities (or college for you americans), when they are showed they hav very full screenings...so whats the missing connection???

You can market a movie all you want, that doesn't mean people will show. Speed 2, for instance, was marketed out the wazoo.

Anyway, shouldn't Anime fanboys be all hardcore anyway? Shouldn't they be on the lookout? I know when it came to Donnie Darko, both regular and Director's Cut, people were on the hunt for that like there was no tomorrow, and when it showed, however brief, the fanboys showed up in force for a week, maybe two.

[dfnshow]

but there needs to be SOME marketing..did you see a trailer or commercial for appleseed...i didn't

[Crazie]

We're in America not Japan nuff said.

[krazy drako]

I think everyone needs to give its time. In a few years I'm sure anime will get its rightful place in movie theatres. Right now its just not happening. Oh well.

[The Postmaster General]

Originally posted by rilocay
IS that maybe 'cause its not marketed enough or properly? Because at Universities (or college for you americans), when they are showed they hav very full screenings...so whats the missing connection???


Let me just clear something up. University and college are not interchangable terms -- a college awards undergraduate degrees, and Universities award Masters and Doctorates. This is why, at American Universities, you have seperate colleges within the University (ie. college of arts and sciences, college of education....) This is true no matter where you are in the world. So the university/college deal is not an American thing, or a Europe thing, it's an ability to use a word in the proper context thing.

Now, back to the topic -- I was going to say that when they showed Fear and Loathing at the University of South Florida, it was packed - totally elbow-to-elbow. However, when I saw it at the theater, hardly no one else showed. It was pretty much empty.

I think the same laws would apply to anime -- There is a certain crowd that is meant to see this movie. You cannot possibly believe that the same people who were first in line to see, I don't know -- Spanglish... You don't possibly believe that they would be excited to see 90 minutes of Japanese animation usually involving violence and adult themes.

Only recently has mainstream America gotten accustom to animated feature length films. Films like Heavy Metal and Fritz have always been underground. The only animation that made money was Disney stuff, and even now it's not too far from that. All of our popular animated films are very far from anime. The closest thing I think that was a big money maker would have been Pokemon: The First Movie.

Like has been mentioned, I think one day, the mainstream will be ready for this, but now, I think animation is too closely associated with children's entertainment. It seems, though, that movies like Shrek, Toy Story, The Incredibles, and other more recent movies that can appeal to both kids and adults -- Hopefully these movies will help bridge the gap and help people appreciate the art form.