What's with Hollywood's love affair for certain release seasons?

[mclay18]

I don't know if this topic has been discussed before, but I've noticed that the big studios like releasing their big blockbuster tentpoles, not just in certain seasons but certain months. I know the summer and holiday seasons are prime territory for studios to stake a piece of the pie because kids and college students are out of school during those times, but still the studios aren't taking more chances with their properties. (There are exceptions of course, but those are few and far between.)

I remember some people were confused when Warners announced a July 18, 2008 release for The Dark Knight and claim that it should stick to a traditional June release like the other Batman films. Then it became the second highest-grossing film of all time and now Warners has booked up the same weekend for its biggest releases for the next three years. (Same thing with Marvel's love for the early May releases.)

What do you guys think? Should the studios try more "out of the box" dates when it comes to expensive properties or no?

 

[Kable24]

All I can say is I preferred the Harry Potter movies in November instead of them being thrown in to the Summer blockbuster mix. FU Warners, I could have Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Blu-Ray right now if you would have released it this past November like you should have.

And action movies suck in December.

 

[bullets]

It's seems that when the release blockbusters so close together it hurts the revenue. I like the summer blockbuster season but sometimes films suffer from that.

 

[BlackLantern]

Award season also has something to do with it....releasing the 'Oscar bait' closer to the deadline usually gets consideration from the Academy moreso than other films

 

[Darthkush]

Realistically, you could have a hit movie in any season or month but sometimes it's too risky for a studio to take that gamble. Imagine if Wolverine came out in September. Because it's Wolverine, it'd make a bit of money but not as much as May. People are in school and have less free time and nowadays, it would be looked at by the audience as a sign that there's something up about the film's quality.