Studios will avoid releasing films around election day: "It would be a crap show."

The studios voted — and the decision was unanimous. For the first time in anyone's memory, there will be no new all-public releases that will rock the box office weekend following the 2024 presidential election. The first and second weekends of November tend to be fertile ground for movie releases before the year-end holiday rush begins. But this year, the noise of the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump race is expected to be so loud that distributors are left on the sidelines when it comes to marquee polls.

That noise could make it difficult to promote a film during the Nov. 8-10 weekend, as the airwaves will be flooded with political ads in the weeks leading up to it. Sources also told The Hollywood Reporter that ad rates are expected to increase between 30 percent and 40 percent due to the presidential election. For example, a studio that's preparing to spend $20 million or $30 million on TV media will suddenly see $28 million to $40 million.

“In particular, 2024 feels different and given the incredibly high-stakes and high-profile nature of this year’s presidential election, it feels like the major studios have been successful in modern times,” said Paul Dergarabedian, chief box office analyst at Comscore. “The more intense storytelling of the post-election weekend leans toward caution rather than risking oxygen-sucking dominance.” The box office bet is mostly for people who don't want to take it this year."

In 2012, Daniel Craig's Skyfall earned a franchise-best $88.4 million nationally the weekend after Barack Obama was elected to a second term. Even the Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton contest four years ago didn't surprise the studio; Arrival earned a solid $24 million the weekend after Trump's win, while Marvel's Doctor Strange and DreamWorks Animation's Trolls earned $43 million and $35 million, respectively, in their second weekends the weekend before the election. Other films released the week after the election included Pixar's The Incredibles in 2004, followed by a double-header in 2008, Madagascar Escape 2 Africa and Role Models.

So far, films releasing nationwide on Nov. 8 include the Lionsgate family film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, based on the book. Including Crunchyroll/Sony's latest anime offering. At the specialty awards box office, Focus Features expanded its conclave nationwide after opening its fall festival in limited theaters the weekend before the election. Speaking of extended stints, Robert Zemeckis' Here, along with Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, will be in the second weekend. "Elections have never impacted the box office, but this is a whole new level. There's going to be a confrontation like that," said one major studio distributor.

" This story appeared in the July 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. THR Newsletter Sign up for the THR Newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign up Company logo Privacy Privacy Center When you visit a website, it may.. store or retrieve information on your browser, often in the form of cookies. This information may be about you, your preferences or your device and is used to make the website more consistent with your expectations.

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