Why Blitz is coming out in theaters today and only for two days

Director Steve McQueen's great historical film is entitled to a temporary visa before its streaming release.

It's all in the title. Blitz is entitled to a “lightning” release in cinemas this weekend. The war film Steve McQueenrecounting the Battle of London during the Second World War, is released in cinemas this weekend, for two days only. An exceptional outing on Saturday November 9 and Sunday November 10, which may surprise more than one person. So why only this weekend?

Because Blitz is a platform film, produced by Lionsgate for the Apple TV+ service. It is due to be released for streaming on November 22. However, media chronology stipulates that any film released in theaters cannot be broadcast on television immediately. A certain deadline is imposed by law (17 months for broadcast on a streaming platform). This is why Wolfswith Brad Pitt and George Clooney, was for example released directly on Apple TV+, without going to theaters.

But the return of the Oscar-winning director 12 Years a Slave deserved the big screen, so the Apple group asked the French authorities for an exception. Blitz thus benefits from a temporary visa, which authorizes the programming of a work over 500 sessions maximum for two days only. The documentary Kaizen of Inoxtag, had benefited from the same visa in September, just before it was put online on YouTube and broadcast on TF1.

The exceptional release of Blitz at the cinema could thus open the door to a new trend among streamers, prevented from releasing their films at the cinema in France, without depriving subscribers of their platforms. For example, Apple had favored the theatrical release of Napoleon by Ridley Scott, in November 2023. The film had 1.6 million admissions but will therefore only be available on Apple TV+ in April 2025 in France. If Blitz managed to make more than 100,000 entries in one weekend (Kaizen had accumulated more than 300,000 fans but by exceeding the number of authorized sessions), this could motivate other streamers to try the experience.

It should be noted that this media chronology is a French cultural exception and that in the United States, most major platform films benefit from a simultaneous (even if limited) release in cinemas.

Blitzcarried by Saoirse Ronanwill be released in France on Apple TV+ from November 22.