Saga Why did the films get an earlier release in the US?

I suppose this applies to many films other than Star Wars, but does anyone remember back in the day when a film would open in the states on a particular day and then not open in other countries for a month or 2. In the case of SW it was 7 months after the US release that it arrived in the UK.

In most cases now movies are synchronised to come out around the same time, but even TPM was delayed by nearly 2 months here in the UK.

Any idea why that was the case?

 

Film prints were (and still are) expensive. International releases often involved using the same prints that had done the rounds of the US, so as not to have to make more.

That's a while back, though. In more recent times I suspect it has more to do with keeping the publicity machines rolling at peak efficiency - stars will do their publicity tours of the US, then do the same thing overseas (attend the premieres, appear on talk shows, etc).

 

That and probably in the age of the internet, an effort to cut down on spoilers and pirating. Course, these days, some films get released early overseas. More studios are relying on international markets first, before domestic.

 

'Cuz Murica is awesome!