“The Irishman” and its three-and-a-half week theatrical run begins today. (It will begin streaming on Netflix November 27th)
So, what’s the plan for the next 28 days or so. New York and Los Angeles have more than a few theatres booked; Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle currently have 2-3 theatres booked each. Those are fairly large American cities and it’s a no-brainer to open Scorsese’s opus there, but what about the rest of America? That’s where it gets a little more depressing.
Netflix could not get theatre chains like AMC, Regal and Cineplex to book “The Irishman” because of their clear cut Netflix biases. The fact that these major exhibitors couldn’t budge, even if the film is the most anticipated movie event of the entire decade for cinephiles, has had Netflix having to rely on indie exhibitors.
The detailed rundown of theatres nationwide that are playing “The Irishman“ looks bleak. 21 states are missing out in experiencing Scorsese’s movie theatrically. It’s playing in a single theatre in the entire state of Texas It’s playing in Georgia but only in the Atlanta suburb of Athens. In the entire east coast of Florida you can only see it in Bonita Springs, a Gulf of Mexico resort town.
Were Netflix just being scattershot and lazy in their planning? That’s what the evidence seems to suggest.