Letterboxd, the social platform and crucial marketing tool for indie film, will soon be able to help its users find movies in nearby theaters.
In collaboration with aggregator Assemble, the service is integrating cinema showtimes into its platform, offering an intuitive way for users to access real-time information about film screenings over the coming seven days.
The beta launch of the new feature is rolling out to users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand (where the company is based) and Australia on Christmas Eve.
“It’s a natural progression for us to offer showtimes to our community, as film fans return to cinemas post-pandemic,” says Letterboxd co-founder Matthew Buchanan. “We’re committed to providing our members with all the tools they need to enhance their film-watching experience and this inclusion of showtime listings is just the start, with more regions and fuller integration (including notifications) to come.”
A significant 87% of Letterboxd’s paid members go to the movie theaters at least once a month, with 39% visiting cinemas three or more times per month.
In contrast, Gallup reports that U.S. adults attended an average of 1.4 movies in theaters in 2021.
Letterboxd said it anticipates “that both cinemas and distributors will welcome the feature” – which may be an understatement given the challenges faced by distributors and exhibitors big and small, but especially in the indie space. It will index approximately 9,000 screens across the U.S., with cinemas encouraged to opt in to share their showtimes.
“Like all our art house friends, we exist to help cinema lovers discover great films and see them in the best formats possible. Letterboxd is really important to us. It fits perfectly into The Brattle ecosystem of discovery, so having showtimes right there on a film’s Letterboxd page is huge for us,” said Ned Hinkle, creative director at The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. in the announcement today.
“As long-time fans and part of the Letterboxd community, Regal is proud to see them putting the theatrical experience even more directly into the hands of cinema’s strongest advocates,” noted Drew Justice, Loyalty Promotions Manager at Regal Cinemas. “Being able to read or write reviews and instantly find nearby theaters is a luxury Regal and Letterboxd movie fans deserve.”
Cinemas in the five launch regions whose listings don’t appear on Letterboxd following the introduction of the new feature are encouraged to submit their showtimes by emailing their website URL to showtimes@assemble.me.
Letterboxd, with ten million members, is a network of film fans in over 190 countries who rate, review and share their movie-watching activities. It regularly partners with various studios and industry organizations for marketing and promotion.
In September, the company was acquired by a Canadian investment firm called Tiny, which said founders would continue to run it independently.