Licorice Pizza | Paul Thomas Anderson | United Artists Releasing | November 26 (limited), December 25 (wide) | Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Cooper Hoffman

[dudalb]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:34 PM, lorddemaxus said:

Come the fuck on, the Nov 26th release is only in LA and New York? I was hoping it'd be something wider than that. I'll be back home on December 25th and I'm not sure if this'll get a release in the middle east. I guess the movie should at least run a month in my nearby indie cinema tho so I should still catch it when I'm back in January at worst. Still, this would've been an easy "traveled an hour to watch in the best screen possible on opening day" kind of film.

They want to get the good reviews in LA and NYC to hype the general release. This is the kind of film where reviews are Important.

It' the same basic strategy studiios use for many "prestige" films which get a limited release in LA and NYC at Christsmas and then go into general release in January, they just changed the time line a bit.

[lorddemaxus]

Had a half serious conversation with a friend about taking a 6 hour drive to LA to watch this. 

[WrathOfHan]

Seeing this on opening weekend in NYC. Can't wait

[Flopped]

For those who've seen it, is the move as try-hard as its title? 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

I wanted to head to NYC to see this. Opening weekend and film projected. But oh well.

 

Anyway, still 95 on Metacritic with eight 100 scores so far.

 

100% Rotten Tomatoes with 9.40 average

[ViktorLosAngeles]

This has a huge PTA, as expected, but I wonder if they're going to keep it on 4 screens until it's wide expansion on Christmas or give it a wider release?

[Ryan Reynolds]

4 hours ago, ViktorLosAngeles said:

This has a huge PTA, as expected, but I wonder if they're going to keep it on 4 screens until it's wide expansion on Christmas or give it a wider release?

i doubt more markets, but i think LA will expand

[lorddemaxus]

Just saw that they're doing just one screening at a Alamo Drafthouse here in the Bay Area on the 4th but of course it's already sold out. Why is MGM being such a pain in the ass with their distribution of this?

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

1 hour ago, lorddemaxus said:

Just saw that they're doing just one screening at a Alamo Drafthouse here in the Bay Area on the 4th but of course it's already sold out. Why is MGM being such a pain in the ass with their distribution of this?

Here's the logic of it, according to the distributor:

 

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/11/licorice-pizza-preview-three-cities-saturday-1234681679/

 

Quote

“The point is to build momentum and word of mouth for the film, while still keeping to the original plan of making it available to most people at Christmas,” says Erik Lomis, president of distribution at United Artists Releasing.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited November 29, 2021 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[tonytr87]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:52 PM, dudalb said:

They want to get the good reviews in LA and NYC to hype the general release. This is the kind of film where reviews are Important.

It' the same basic strategy studiios use for many "prestige" films which get a limited release in LA and NYC at Christsmas and then go into general release in January, they just changed the time line a bit.

 

I'm not convinced WOM is a thing anymore during COVID, but they're welcome to give it a try. 

[ViktorLosAngeles]

Judging by the weekend gross - it works!

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

They're going to keep it as low profile as possible to avoid peaking/frontrunner backlash etc then expand wide during Christmas to bank in on the Oscar buzz and Globe and critic wins and noms. It makes sense even though it's an anxious wait. Spencer is already on VOD, Belfast could only muster a $800 PTA during Thanksgiving. Bleak times for dramas. WSS might open flat, Spiderman is going to gobble every screen during the 17th, Nightmare Alley is probably doomed. And MGM has Gucci at same timeframe

 

And yeah, WOM is truly not a thing anymore during COVID. Feels like Free Guy (and Raya earlier in the year) is the only film that capitalized off WOM? And that was not a PTA drama lol

[lorddemaxus]

I feel like it's better to get any backlash (which this movie has already started to get and will definitely blow up) out of the way earlier in the race. 

 

Anyways, I think it would be better to build WoM by slowly expanding the movie each week instead of having it in just 4 theaters for an entire month and then release it wide. You aren't going to get a lot of new people watching it that way to build WoM before the movie's wide release.

[Eric Atreides]

https://deadline.com/2021/12/national-board-of-review-names-paul-thomas-anderson-his-licorice-pizza-as-best-director-film-1234883672/

 

Quote

Best Film: LICORICE PIZZA
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA

Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman, LICORICE PIZZA
 

 

[tonytr87]

On 11/30/2021 at 4:11 AM, lorddemaxus said:

I feel like it's better to get any backlash (which this movie has already started to get and will definitely blow up) out of the way earlier in the race. 

 

Anyways, I think it would be better to build WoM by slowly expanding the movie each week instead of having it in just 4 theaters for an entire month and then release it wide. You aren't going to get a lot of new people watching it that way to build WoM before the movie's wide release.

 

Studios and publicists just need to ignore Twitter. Social media is not reality, it's a bubble of puritanical, illiberal folks who think of themselves as the opposite. 

[lorddemaxus]

Holy shit, I just got tickets to watch this this weekend. 7pm show, which is kinda annoying since this cinema is also kinda far, but I'll take it. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by lorddemaxus

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

'Licorice Pizza': 27 Locations Set for Added 'Pop-Up' Screenings – Exclusive

 

 

Quote

 

No more waiting until Christmas: this Saturday, 17 cities in the U.S. (plus one in Canada) will play host to a single “pop-up” showing of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, “Licorice Pizza.” This new list of cities includes three that already hosted sold-out screenings last Saturday. Tickets are now on sale, though likely to disappear quickly.

These one-night only engagements are in addition to the very successful continuing initial dates for the film — three in New York, one in Los Angeles. This weekend saw the film only drop about a third from last weekend, indicating a very strong response to the coming-of-age period film, more so since those opening numbers included Thursday night preview shows as well as a holiday Friday. Near sell-outs occurred in many of the dates, which saw a gross of $223,000. (To show how exceptional this is: two other specialized releases, “Wolf” (Focus) and “Benedetta” (IFC), grossed about the same in 510 theaters.)

 

So, the numbers for the pop-up screenings will be rolled into the Christmas weekend?

 

[lorddemaxus]

Lol, I was in such a hurry to get tickets that I didn't see that the cinema two blocks away from me is also showing it this weekend. I can't seem to refund my tickets either. Hopefully 70mm is worth the 2x price and 45 minute long trip.

[TheDude391]

Got excited when I saw Toronto added but its a single showing that sold out a week ago. If it wasn't for Memoria this year I'd find this limited release one showing schedule very obnoxious.

[dudalb]

On 11/29/2021 at 5:22 PM, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

They're going to keep it as low profile as possible to avoid peaking/frontrunner backlash etc then expand wide during Christmas to bank in on the Oscar buzz and Globe and critic wins and noms. It makes sense even though it's an anxious wait. Spencer is already on VOD, Belfast could only muster a $800 PTA during Thanksgiving. Bleak times for dramas. WSS might open flat, Spiderman is going to gobble every screen during the 17th, Nightmare Alley is probably doomed. And MGM has Gucci at same timeframe

 

And yeah, WOM is truly not a thing anymore during COVID. Feels like Free Guy (and Raya earlier in the year) is the only film that capitalized off WOM? And that was not a PTA drama lol

WOM might not be a thing, but reviews for this kind of film still are.

THis film will be a top award contender;with Nightmare Alley getting a likewarm critical reception. Maybe this will be PTA's Oscar film, he is long overdue..which will count in his favor with Academy Voters. Lots of actors and directors get Oscars not so much for what they won for but because they had been overlooked in the past, and voters  felt their time had come.