Going for the Nova endurance record

I saw Parasite at Cinema Nova in Carlton on June 27^th, 2019, on the first night of its release.

That was 237 days ago. It’s still playing.

On two screens.

This isn’t 1977, when Star Wars played in cinemas for a full year (actually, 44 weeks) because there was no other way to see it. No, it’s 2020, when some movies debut on streaming services the same day as their theatrical release, and even when they don’t, they sometimes have less than two months between their theatrical release date and video premiere.

Parasite was an exception to that rule in Australia. Because the movie was not released in the U.S. until September, its Australian debut on physical media was delayed until just two weeks ago – a week later than it debuted on physical media in the U.S., in fact. I watched it on the plane (for second time) back in November, but unless you were taking a flight somewhere, you were out of luck.

Fortunately, Cinema Nova has been there to oblige.

I’m pretty sure it dropped at some point down to 1-2 screenings a day, but after the Academy Awards, Parasite has come back in full force, finally prompting the few people who haven’t seen it to go ahead and do so. Even though it is now available for purchase, and presumably, for rental. And even though there is now also a black and white version to watch in some cinemas.

I can’t say whether this is actually a modern-day record for Nova, because there’s no easy way to research how long they’ve held certain films playing. I can say that having something like 16 screens (which is gigantic for an arthouse theater) has allowed them to continue allocating one screen to Parasite long after other cinemas had stopped doing so. It’s not unprecedented for a popular film to still be playing at Nova four or five months after its initial release, but eight months is a different story. If the ticket sales support it, I suppose Nova will do it.

Even if it's not a record, you’ve got a unique case with Parasite that would create the conditions for possibly setting one. First, it a word-of-mouth hit that slowly built support and viewers over the duration of its initial several months at Nova. Just at the moment that you’d expect that phenomenon to start petering out, Parasite was released in the U.S., leading to a renewed round of critical attention that of course makes its way over here, generating more interest and more viewers. At the time you might expect that bump to peter out, critics released their best-of-the-year lists, many of which were topped by Parasite. Cue more viewers. Finally you have its Oscar nominations and Oscar wins. Who knows how much longer the film will float along on the current wave.

It’s one of the things I love about Nova, and what it says about independent movie fans and cinephiles in this area, possibly even in Australia in general. It says, or certainly implies, that such people recognize the value of seeing movies on the big screen, even when they have small screen alternatives. It suggests that while they might not get to a movie on its first or second weekend, they certainly have the intention of doing so eventually. It also suggests a fair number of repeat viewers.

And as for the theater itself, it shows that there is a certain patience to their approach, a hesitation to jettison something for the next shiny new thing, just because some model might forecast an expected downturn in the movie’s profitability. There were probably times in, say, late November, when its ticket sales were flagging, when somebody thought about removing it. But ultimately no one did, and lo and behold, here it still is the following February – going stronger than ever, if we are to believe that the people allocating the screening spaces are doing it based on actual ticket sales and not just expected demand. I’m not sure if Parasite was ever playing on two screens at Nova before now.

As a sign of how they're doubling down, I noticed last night that the Parasite poster had again assumed a place of prominence among those you see as you take the escalator up to the lobby. Usually these are reserved for brand spanking new releases or movies that have not even come out yet. 

Maybe it would have been smarter to hold this post until I can tell how long Parasite will ultimately last. But I likely would have forgotten to pay attention to that. If I remember, I’ll update you with the final tally once I notice Parasite falling off the slate on an upcoming Thursday.

Until then, it continues to set records -- both officially, at the Oscars, and unofficially, at the arthouse theaters who adore it.