Wide release, limited release and platform release

The industry shorthand comes from the US box office trackers. Box Office Mojo's glossary counts a film as in wide release when it plays at 600 or more theaters, which generally means a nationwide release. Under 600 it is in limited release, playing one or more markets but not the whole country.

Note the unit. A "theater" in those counts is a location, not a screen. One multiplex playing a title on four screens counts once. Trade reports that say "screens" when they mean theaters are a common source of confusion.

A wide release brings national advertising and an audience that already knows the date. It also brings the steepest film rental in the opening weeks and the least room to negotiate. Every cinema in the zone wants it, which is where clearance comes in.

A limited release is the opposite trade. The audience has to be found locally, but terms are more flexible and a single cinema matters more to the distributor. It is the core of repertory and independent programming.

A platform release is a moving target. Whether a smaller cinema gets the film early, late or not at all depends on how it performs in the first markets and on the cinema's own record with similar titles. A booker who tracks the expansion and asks early usually does better than one who waits for the film to arrive. The film rental calculator helps model whether a later, cheaper date is worth more than an early one.