What Is The Longest Theatrical Run In The History Of Cinema?

By Peter ScirettaAug. 12, 2008 1:17 pm EST

The Hollywood Reporter lists one of the reasons The Dark Knight won't top Titanic's $601 million box office record is because Warner Bros is planning on releasing the film on DVD in December to capitalize on the Holiday sales season. The film has currently grossed $441.6 million domestically, and is on track to make $510-$525 total in the US.It is interesting to think about how much cinema has changed in the last 25 years. Now-a-days, the long tail is on DVD, Downloads and On Demand. Two decades ago you could have kept Dark Knight in the theaters for 7 months. Without an available home video option, people would still pay to see it on the big screen. And I'm talking about after the practice of road show releases came to an end.

E.T. was in theaters for over a year.

Star Wars screened for 44 weeks.

Back to the Future was in theaters for 37 weeks.

Beverly Hills Cop played for 30 weeks.

Can you imagine a movie now-a-days playing in theaters for more than six months? It's rare.

Which brings me to today's trivia question:

What Movie has been shown continually in movie theaters since its release in 1975 making it the longest theatrical run in history?

I'll answer the trivia question in the comments!