9

When I saw Star Wars in 1977 I was lucky enough to be able to get a souvenir program about the movie, in much the same way that you commonly get for live theater. The program was 18 pages and contained cast member, plot and production details. It looked like this:

Star Wars program handed as a souvenir

Special showings of movies, such as happen in festivals, often have a printed page or brochure about the movie, but I think these used to be quite widely available for big blockbuster movies, especially when they were first shown.

My question is, such souvenirs do not seem to be at all common nowadays. What was the last movie to get a widely available program like this?

Improve this question
7
  • I don't have a definitive answer, but the last time I personally saw one was when I saw 'Dune' in the theater back in the 80s.
    – kekekela
    Feb 13, 2013 at 14:06
  • 1
    Maybe we need a "Last Occurrence" tag now! ;)
    – Sayan
    Feb 13, 2013 at 15:27
  • Are you asking about 'worldwide' or only the 'US'?
    – Oliver_C
    Mar 4, 2013 at 13:09
  • @Oliver_C - I am asking worldwide - but would be particularly interested to know when/if it stopped in the 'western world' as I am from the UK, and live in the USA.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Mar 4, 2013 at 14:36
  • 1
    My head mentally inserted 'a' into your list of what the program contained - a cast member, plot and production details - I now can't stop picturing Mark Hamill sitting on your kitchen table asking if he can go home yet.
    – RyanfaeScotland
    Sep 17, 2019 at 9:03

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

Don't know how you define widely available or whether you differentiate between a program and a magazine (usually longer), but there was a program produced for Shrek 2 in 2004. There was a 65-page Spiderman Official Movie Souvenir Magazine in 2002. The Fantasia 2000 premiere had a program. Before that was a 12-page book for The Thin Red Line (1998) with Sean Penn and George Clooney, and Godzilla and Lost in Space had souvenir magazines that year as well. Disney sometimes produces programs for premieres.

This information comes from the World Catalog, searching for subject = Motion Picture Program, and sorting by date, descending.

Improve this answer
3
  • Thanks. I guess a magazine does count as a programme - thanks for digging into the World Catalog.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Mar 4, 2013 at 14:40
  • Shrek 2 wasn't made or distributed by Disney.
    – user209
    Apr 1, 2013 at 17:10
  • And Spiderman was a Sony Pictures production.
    – Aarthi
    Apr 16, 2013 at 21:34
2

In most of Tokyo's big cinemas you can usually buy souvenirs for the main stream movies that are currently playing (magazines, postcards, toys.. it depends on the movie).
So there definitely still are cinemas in the world where you can get a souvenir program for the movie you just watched.

Improve this answer
1
  • Thanks. I am particularly asking about souvenir programmes, not just souvenirs. Magazines may count as a programme.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Mar 4, 2013 at 14:37

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .