That’s not really true though, we’re forgetting this now because covid really shuffled things, but it was getting impossible for anything lower budget than a blockbuster to get screentime because of how many screens were contractually obligated to Disney and Marvel. They had really insane power for a few years, after all if you don’t show their movie almost exclusively for an extended period they might not let you show it at all.

Something like the Irishman probably had a better shot dealing with indie theaters that normally oscillate between playing cult classics and the festival scene movies than with multiplexes.