Limited theatrical release
One notable exception is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which premiered in 1975 and is still shown only in limited fashion; it is the longest-running theatrical release in film history.[3] In the United States, even a limited theatrical release can help trigger a variety of ancillary revenues, like home video, pay television, streaming, international sales and others.[11] The advantage of the strategy is that marketing costs are conserved until a film's performance has been established, when the distributor may opt to increase advertising and push for a wider release.A distributor using this release strategy must take care not to expand too quickly in the early stages to prevent the (limited) audience from being spread too thin, which would reduce the per-theater average and so cause the film to appear weaker.[9][14] When a film garners awards attention during this period, critical praise and strong word-of-mouth can translate into a higher per-screen average, and thus expansion to more theaters.