Why Is It That Fall & Winter Are The Seasons For Fantasy Movies?

[Angel Tarragon]

After figuring out that I have never seen a fantasy movie during the Fall and Summer seasons I am curious as to the marketing value of this is done. So a couple of questions; is this a recent trend (1990s - present), and the big one: WHY? Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Taelorn76]

I think that durring the summer people want to be out and about, so they release movies that are guaranteed to get people in to the theater, blockbusters. Fantasy and sci-fi are slightly more risky. So release thm in the winter when people want to get out of the house and are willling to take more of a chance.

 

[Ranger REG]

Isn't Pirates of the Caribbeans: Dead Man's Chest a fantasy movie opened in the summer?

What about the Star Wars Prequel -- a space fantasy film series -- that opened in the late spring/early summer?

 

[Brakkart]

Superhero movies tend to open in the summer as well. The last time I checked there weren't people flying about, climbing walls, throwing tanks etc in our reality so they are fantasy films too, albeit of a specific genre

 

[WayneLigon]

I think it just seems like it; Winter and Summer are the big blockbuster seasons (Though May is fast becomming the 'get on the bandwagon early' month; next May is packed with big fantasy and SF stuff). It could be like a friend of mine: every year when the weather turns cold, she gets in the mood for the fantasy genre.

 

[Merlion]

I think part of it is that Summer seems to be for the action/adventure/drama type stuff, "guy" movies and some "date" movies, and near the holidays seems to be concentrated more towards "family" movies, and many "high fantasy" type stories are often considered "family" movies to varying degrees.

The biggest examples would be Harry Potter, Narnia, and the Lord of the Rings (yea I know the LOTR has some rather non-family stuff in it, but still). The major fantasy franchises of late have been primarily winter release.

And I *do* think there is a bit of an association with "high" fantasy and fall/winter, even in the works themselves...Lord of the Rings really gets going in the fall, and ends in the fall...the Dark is Rising sequence has some of that too...