Sometimes the universe knows you need a good cry and gives you a new ‘weepie’, the latest one beingWe Live in Time. The second I saw a clip of Andrew Garfield sitting alongside Florence Pugh with a bare head, I knew it was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, on which my friends and I will, gladly, embark. Imagine the disappointment of finding out it wasn’t going to be released until 1 January 2025 in the UK—over two months after its US release on 18 October 2024.
Many factors are involved in distributing a film in any given country: national holidays, cultural events, competition with other films, or the potential to increase publicity. These factors are taken into account by marketing strategies, with the goal of maximising profits. It makes sense for children’s films to be released during school holidays, and staggering releases allows actors more time to travel around generating buzz around a film; theatrical releases will follow suit.
While these traditional marketing considerations have worked in the past, the world’s increasing interconnectedness through the internet means such disunity in global theatrical release times could be more harmful. It’s almost impossible to dodge the flood of spoilers or gut-wrenching edits that will likely undercut the film’s emotional impact if we ever eventually see it in cinemas.
On the flip side, distribution companies run the risk that we’re so inundated by promotional material that we simply lose interest and move onto the next film—Paddington in Peru, anyone? Look no further than the TikTok account of StudioCanal, the company responsible for distributing (and producing) both WLIT and PIP in the UK, to see its shift in focus from the former to the latter. Interestingly, the release times of PIP follow an opposite pattern, with the film being released in the UK two months before the US. Paddington Bear is a British icon, after all.
But why doesn’t the same logic apply to WLIT? It is categorically a British film from its London-based, short-humoured characters (one of whom works at Weetabix) to the understated, naturalistic performance of its English actors. There is plenty of reason to expect the film’s immediate popularity with a UK audience; indeed, it feels like a slap in the face to see it flaunted overseas while while we, with bated breath, wait.
Not to mention the prevalence of high-quality piracy sites—people can forgo the cinema entirely in favour of watching films for free, from the comfort of their homes, at the same time as the rest of the world (notwithstanding the moral dubiousness). With so many streaming platforms, we have an endless torrent of content to occupy us until WLIT inevitably enters this sphere, allowing us to watch it at no extra cost. Studios are in a race against pirated copies and streaming services to reach the worldwide market, lest their profits be severely impacted.
It seems we are witnessing the demise of the cinema industry by its own hands. Studios are increasingly reliant on co-financing deals with streaming platforms, box office receipts are declining, and cinemas are closing all around us. This is at least partially a result of poor distribution decisions that conflict with consumers’ interests—StudioCanal, please give us We Live in Time sooner!
“Florence Pugh – The Wonder BFI London Film Festival Premiere, October 2022 (cropped)” by Raph_PH is licensed under CC BY 2.0.