The Platform Release Has All but Disappeared. Is That Hurting Films Like ‘Spencer’ and ‘Belfast’? (Column)

Like casual social hugs and the daily commute to the office cubicle, the platform movie release has been a casualty of the age of COVID. You remember the platform release, don’t you? It used to happen quite a bit this time of year. A movie with a major independent distributor, like Searchlight or A24 or Neon or Focus, would begin its journey down the runway, bolstered by excited media features and a healthy swell of positive reviews. At last, it would take off — in two or six theaters in New York and Los Angeles, where it would rack up… Read Full Article