Have you ever been in a video store or online looking for the next movie you want to watch and you come across a movie that catches your eye? Was it because you saw the name of a big star on it and you couldn’t figure out why you had never heard of the movie before? You look at the box and realize that this movie was made during the height of their popularity. So then you wonder what went wrong?

The truth is it takes a lot more than star power to get the movie out into the theatres. The first thing that a movie company will do once the movie is done shooting and a cut of the movie has been made is they will take it to focus groups. These groups will watch the movie and then rate the movie on a questionnaire. Then they will pull a smaller group of people into a room and ask them specifically what they liked and didn’t like. If the movie got an overwhelmingly negative response they will either try another group or they may ask to make changes. If those changes aren’t well received then there will be a chance that they go straight to DVD.

Another reason a movie doesn’t come out to the theaters if a star falls off the map. Sometimes there is a big name star who’s stock just plummets during production on the film. There is every intention to release it but then it looks more and more like no one wants to see it. It’s a serious problem for those in the business of movie making. The best thing you can do is go cheaper by cutting the press for it and sending it to the stores first and hoping that it makes its money back. There are many ways to have a movie go straight to home release.