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PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is a 1957 movie?

Does IMDb really want PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE listed as a 1957 movie just because of a preview in 1957? For decades, it has always been considered a 1959 film on IMDb and most sites and reference books -- though I see that a few other sites (including Wikipedia and Letterboxd) are now listing it as a 1957 release, possibly taking IMDb's lead. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052077/releaseinfo/ https://archive.ph/314uY

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Plan 9 from Outer Space (aka Grave Robbers from Outer Space) is not a 1959 movie. It was distributed by DCA in 1958, and had a public release in June [https://archive.org/details/filmbulletin195826film/page/n462/mode/1up?view=theater&q=%22Plan+9%22]. The private screening which took place at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 1957, is known from the interviews and private comments from the cast and crew members of this movie -- they are quoted by Rudolph Grey in his book "Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr." [https://archive.org/details/nightmareofecsta00rudo/mode/2up]. The time and place of the screening was not announced to public. The only known third party, other than the film crew, who was present at that screening by private invitation was Forrest J. Ackerman [nm0009969], then the founding editor and principal writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland [https://archive.org/details/Nebula_Science_Fiction_020_1957-03_LennyS-cape1736/mode/2up?q=%22Grave+Robbers+From+Outer+Space%22 ; https://archive.org/details/Famous_Monsters_of_Filmland_003_1959_Teachbug-Sprout/page/n15/mode/1up?q=%22Grave+Robbers+From+Outer+Space%22]. According to IMDb rules, the market screenings that are by private invitation only, as well as any occasional show to non-public focus groups to assess audience reaction before making final edits, are not considered public releases, therefore should not be considered as release dates [https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/release-dates/GVUUDEPJNAW6G35P#guidelines]. In light of the above, I suggest: 1) Add a trivia about the preview screening at Carlton Theatre, Los Angeles (15 March 1957); 2) Add a release date June 1958 with attribute (In a limited number of cinemas); 3) Delete the release date 15 March 1957.

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Thank you. Based on what you say, it sounds like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE should be listed as a 1958 movie then, not a 1957 one. That contradicts older sources (as well as my own expectations), but documentation that proves the movie had a public release in 1958 would mean it should appear on IMDb as: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958) That June 1958 release would have to be added to IMDb's Release Dates section. Right now, except for the preview release of 1957, the earliest release date listed is 1959.

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Hello all, Feel free to submit the corrections using the online Update Form.

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Should the preview release be deleted from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and added back as a trivia item --as MAthePA suggested? Or is there a way to add a preview release date that does not affect how the year in parentheses appears in the display title? (I'm a longtime contributor, but I don't often deal with this issue.) I'll leave it to MAthePA to add the June 1958 release date, since he is the one with the documentation.

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@jay_spirit: According to @MAthePA, the 1957 screening was a private screening and those shouldn't be listed at all (see https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/release-dates/GVUUDEPJNAW6G35P?ref_=helpms_helpart_inline#), regardless of whether or not they influence the year in parentheses and regardless of whether or not they are the first release known to IMDb.

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Thank you. I submitted a deletion for the preview screening from the Release Dates section. I see that MAthePA added the June 1958 release date. It looks like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE will soon be listed as a 1958 movie on IMDb.