Why movie studios should start thinking differently about Labor Day

Hollywood's leaving money on the table by treating the holiday as a dead zone

A movie theater.
(Image credit: Illustrated | James_Gabbert/iStock, Tanyasun/iStock)

If you want to go out to see a new movie this Labor Day weekend and you're already caught up with the major wide releases of August, you have exactly one choice (not counting rejiggered re-releases of Spider-Man: Far From Home or Midsommar). That choice is Don't Let Go, and it's barely a choice at all. The sci-fi thriller is only showing in 900 theaters, a modest wide release that underlines exactly what movie studios assume about your Labor Day weekend plans: They probably don't involve the theater.

Treating Labor Day like a movie graveyard is both part of a rich tradition and a strange break in protocol. Certain times of year have always been treated as dumping grounds, but those corridors have narrowed in recent years as studios have planted more tentpoles. Every other major holiday weekend of the year is now treated as a major opportunity, even formerly fallow weekends like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents' Day. Yet Labor Day still languishes, even as the weekend after it (which used to be even more barren) has been revitalized by a series of Warner Bros. releases: Sully, It, The Nun, and now It: Chapter 2, expected to have a massive debut around this time next week.

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Jesse Hassenger

Jesse Hassenger's film and culture criticism has appeared in The Onion's A.V. Club, Brooklyn Magazine, and Men's Journal online, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, where he also writes fiction, edits textbooks, and helps run SportsAlcohol.com, a pop culture blog and podcast.