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 There was much debate about the Martin Scorsese’s Netflix film The
Irishman starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Most movie theaters
refused to book Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma last year but it was hoped the same would
not happen this time around. Most theaters have a three month exclusivity
window, which means a film has to play in a theater first then debut on a
streaming service after. So last year Roma played in small theater chains or
block booked a theater in a large complex for a few weeks. Roma, however, wasn’t
considered a major commercial film and The Irishman has mass appeal. Scorsese
wanted the film to be treated like any other of his films and get a wide
commercial release. Netflix was trying to work out a deal with the AMC and
Cineplex chains to book the film but that’s not going to happen. The chains
wanted a 90-day exclusivity window and felt that if they ignored the rule for
Netflix then other studios would want to do the same thing. And so the film will
open on November 1st in limited theatrical release. The film will add cities
over a three-and-a-half week rollout and then debut on Netflix on November 27th.
The AMC and Regal chains will not book the film so here in Chicago the best bet
would be the Music Box or maybe the ICON theater downtown.
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