Aussies Are Still Getting Fucked Over When It Comes To Movie Delays
Sorry, but we are.
Back in 2014 The LEGO Movie was one of the highest-grossing films at the Australian box office.
According to BoxOfficeMojo it was the second-highest after The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
Roadshow
The film was an Australian co-production, made by an Aussie animation company, Animal Logic, in partnership with Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, and Lin Pictures. But we had to wait 54 days *after* the US before seeing it in cinemas.
The decision to delay the release was made by the Australian distributor, and co-producer, Roadshow Films, to capitalise on the March school holidays.
Roadshow
According to Roadshow's CEO, Graham Burke, this decision cost them approximately $3.5 - $5 million in lost sales because of piracy.
Roadshow
In an interview with The Feed's Marc Fennell, Burke admitted this decision was a mistake.
In the interview (which you can still watch here), Burke claims they were unaware that the film would be so successful.
"If you put it out in February, no one will go - so you wait for Easter. As it turned out, it was much more than a kids movie. In retrospect, if we had it all over again, we would have gone day in date with LEGO. We didn't realise how big a film it was."
In fact, while talking at a Copyright Forum back in 2014, Burke made the bold claim: "We'll now make all our movies day in date with the US".
SBS / Via youtube.com