Ask John: Why Are American Theatrical Releases of Anime so Limited?

Question:
Why do American anime companies announce they’re going theatrical with certain films, and then screen them in places which are out of the way for most fans? What’s the point? For example, I wanted to catch that One Piece film, and I live in a major city, but it was nowhere near me. Instead, it ended up in rural locations no one would know about, thus defeating the entire purpose.

Answer:
Very limited nationwide theatrical distribution of anime films would indeed seem to conflict with the goal of giving American anime fans an opportunity to see anime films theatrically, if the later was actually the goal of theatrical release. However, that may not always be the reason why American distributors give certain anime films a limited theatrical release. Furthermore, we can’t discount the possibility that wider theatrical distribution just isn’t feasible.

It’s natural for an individual consumer level fan to presume that the reason why films are put into theatrical distribution is to give viewers an opportunity to see anime in a theatrical environment. However, a distributor may have an entirely different goal in mind. Merely getting a film into nationwide theatrical release, even a very limited nationwide release, creates a great deal of marketing potential for a film. A theatrical release generates professional movie reviews, which can be very useful as advertising and marketing endorsements. A national theatrical release also gives a distributor the right to promote a title as a national theatrical release. The scale of the distribution has no impact on the ability to call an anime film a “national theatrical release.” The implication that a particular anime was worthy of American theatrical release may be enough to attract additional consumer attention, and encourage major American retail chains to stock extra copies of the DVD, and give the release additional advertising and prominence. Consumers that weren’t able to see the film in theaters may search it out on home video, while a title that never had any theatrical exposure may not benefit from that consumer awareness and interest.

It’s also vital to realize that America’s anime distribution companies are not massive conglomerates. Getting any film into theatrical release costs thousands of dollars because theatrical film prints for theaters to screen cost thousands per print to manufacture. Furthermore, securing widespread theatrical distribution is difficult because many theaters will refuse to screen films that have very little market potential. Why screen an anime film that may attract a few hundred viewers when the same theater screen could generate much more profit by screening a more popular film? In effect, American anime distributors that do try to get their titles into American theaters might not be able to afford the expenses necessary to mount a massive national wide release. And a national wide release may not be possible because many theaters may refuse to screen anime films with very niche market appeal.

In effect, I’m sure that America’s anime distributors do the best they can to get films into nationwide theatrical release. But there is a significant possibility that limited theatrical releases are organized primarily as marketing and advertising tools rather than as an opportunity for viewers to actually see anime in a theatrical setting.