Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2022 January 26

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January 26

'Static' release date

The release dates at Static (1986 film) are a mess. The page title says 1986, but the page description, first paragraph and categories all say 1985. The infobox says both, presumably because it had a limited release in Chicago in 1985 before being released nationwide in 1986 (although there is no source for that). So which should the article say? Is there a policy on when a film is released for the purpose of WP articles? (As usual, I'm posting here rather than on the article's talk page, because questions on article talk pages of little-watched articles are never answered.) --Viennese Waltz 09:40, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

What do reliable sources say? Go with what you can find in reliable sources. If reliable sources differ, then cite them all and note the discrepancy. --Jayron32 12:18, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

I don't have a horse in this race. I'm not going to look for reliable sources and I'm not going to change the article. Just flagging it up in case someone cares more than I do. --Viennese Waltz 13:07, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

I think it was Lucy Van Pelt who once said, "I don't pretend to have solutions. I just point out trouble!" --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:13, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Leonard Maltin's book says 1985. "Year of theatrical release in the film's country of origin." --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:38, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Examination of the article's history shows that it was titled before the 1985 local release was known to its editors. A move to Static (1985 film) would seem to me appropriate and uncontroversial, though it would be nice to have a reliable source for the October 1985 release. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.213.224.157 (talk) 18:01, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Seems like a reasonable move, though I think this discussion should be copied or moved to the talk page, in case someone wonders why it was changed. For 1985, I can't vouch for October, but it's no later than November. The article links to Chicago International Film Festival. The Chicago Tribune for November 8, 1985, announces the start of the film festival, and lists the various movies to be shown. It indicates November 20 for the showing of Static. --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:57, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

The rule is the year is when it was released/premiered - period - not when it went into general release. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:02, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

I've made the move. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:14, 26 January 2022 (UTC)