After months ofchaotic international press in the lead-up to the film,Australians had to wait an extra two weeks to see Harry Styles and Florence Pugh’sDon’t Worry Darlingin early October. Billy Eichner’sBrosarrived a full month later than it did in the US,and other titles likeMrs Harris Goes to Paris and DC League of Super-Petstook up to three months.
Mike Baard,managing director of Universal Pictures Australasia (which distributes most of these films,includingTar),says it’s not unusual to see these types of delays. But it is perhaps more noticeable in the context of the past few years,he says,when many movies got fast-tracked internationally due to the pandemic.
Loading
“Most films in Australia will open either on the same weekend as the US,or the weekend after … But when a film is delayed,there’s inevitably strategic reasons.”
Some films,likeDC League of Super Pets,are held back to better fit when Australian school holidays fall. And others are delayed to allow for the option of bringing talent here to promote the film. DelayingBros,for example,allowed for Billy Eichner,Luke MacFarlane and director Nicholas Stoller to attend the Melbourne premiere of the film and dolocal media interviews (including with this masthead).
This isn’t possible with all films. You won’t ever see big delays in high-profile superhero movies “where fans are salivating to see it and piracy is a factor,” Baard notes. “You want fans all over the world to be talking about something[like that] at the same time.”