Additional copies of 'Lincoln' headed to theatres to meet demand
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - "Lincoln" is marching to more movie theatres.
Disney, which distributed the DreamWorks film, is making additional prints of director Steven Spielberg's historical saga starring Daniel Day-Lewis to meet an unexpected demand that has left some moviegoers in Alaska out in the cold.
"To say that we're encouraged by the results to date or that they've exceeded our expectations is an understatement," said Dave Hollis, head of distribution at the Walt Disney Co. "We're in the midst of making additional prints to accommodate demand and will have them available to our partners in exhibition by mid-December for what we hope will be a great run through the holiday and awards corridor."
The film, which opened in wide release Nov. 9 and has earned $83.6 million in North America so far, has been unavailable at some smaller venues, such as the Gross Alaska theatres in Juneau.
But the extra prints are coming a little too late to fit the movie into the five-screen Glacier Cinemas theatre during the holiday season, said Kenny Solomon-Gross, general manager of the Gross Alaska, which runs two theatres in Juneau and one in Ketchikan, Alaska.
"When we had the room for 'Lincoln,' Disney didn't have a copy for us," Solomon-Gross said Monday.
His film lineup is pretty booked through the end of the year, and he probably can't screen "Lincoln" until after the first of the new year. Yes, the excitement over the film will have dimmed, but then the Academy Awards season will be stirring up, he said. That should kick up the buzz.
In the meantime, Solomon-Gross plans to head to Las Vegas this week and catch the film there.
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang . Associated Press writer Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.
