In
cinematic parlance, a
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
in its first run has been recently
released. In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, new films attract the majority of their theatrical viewers in the first few weeks after their release. In North America, different
movie theater
A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
s pay different rates to show films depending on how recently they have been released. In 1946, the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
found major film distributors in violation of antitrust laws when they precluded independent theaters from screening first-run films.
[See Bigelow v. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 327 U.S. 251 (1946)]
Some older, smaller, or poorly outfitted
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
or
discount theatres, or those in less desirable locations, specialize in showing films during their
second run. These theatres get to keep a larger share of the ticket fees and often charge a lower ticket price.
See also
*
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
*
First-run syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
References
Film and video terminology
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