Boyhood rerelease: test for Independent Film Company catalog

Independent Film Company said Monday it will rerelease Boyhood in theaters July 31. The 12th-anniversary run includes a special screening July 18 at the Austin Film Society with director Richard Linklater, star Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. That Q&A will be recorded and played before theatrical showings starting July 31.

Linklater shot Boyhood over 12 years, letting Coltrane age on screen. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Arquette won the supporting-actress Oscar. Hawke was nominated, as were Linklater for directing and writing, editor Sandra Adair and the film itself for best picture.

The rerelease is a low-risk experiment. Independent Film Company holds a catalog of titles whose production costs were recovered years ago. Any revenue from a rerelease is pure margin. A recorded Q&A adds new value and lets smaller venues screen the content without flying in talent. The company incurs little marketing or production expense beyond the recording.

The strategy carries a constraint. Rereleases work only when the original film has durable cultural resonance. Boyhood has that. The film is still taught in film schools and referenced in criticism. Not every Independent Film Company title does.

Independent Film Company will announce additional participating theaters in the coming weeks. The July 18 screening is a one-off. The recorded Q&A makes the experience portable.