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Not playing at a theater near you: Why are some movies so hard to find?

It comes down to how much money the theaters think they’re going to earn.

But it can be more difficult to see less mainstream fare in theaters, even if they’re Oscar contenders, such as this year’s best picture nominees, including “The Zone of Interest,”“Past Lives” and “Anatomy of a Fall.” Rodney Hill, a film professor at Hofstra University, previously told Marketplace that distributors are considered the middlemen in the theatrical experience. Mitchell Block, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and professor of documentary and film studies at the University of Oregon, said that opening a movie in multiple markets spanning at least 30 theaters can cost tens of thousands of dollars, including advertising.

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