The State of Advance Screenings
Free and advance film screenings are scattered across studio promotions, radio giveaways, theater programs, and film societies, so nobody publishes a count of them. We watch 206 sources every day, so we can. Figures below are live and recomputed daily.
Passes drop about 38 days before the screening
Across every listing where we can measure both dates, a pass appears 38.1 days before the screening it admits you to, on average. That is the practical answer to how far ahead it is worth looking: roughly five weeks, not a few days.
25.1% of listings are free to claim. The rest are paid previews, festival screenings, and ticketed premieres.
Where screenings actually happen
| Market | Listings |
|---|---|
| New York, NY | 2,099 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1,387 |
| Austin, TX | 215 |
| San Francisco, CA | 214 |
| Dallas, TX | 211 |
| Chicago, IL | 194 |
| Denver, CO | 165 |
| Washington, DC | 163 |
| Seattle, WA | 145 |
| Boston, MA | 133 |
New York and Los Angeles dominate because studio promotional screenings concentrate there. Everything outside those two is where passes are easiest to actually get.
How these numbers are counted
- A screening is one film, in one city, on one day. A run across three nights counts as three; the same screening listed by two sources counts as one.
- A market is a city and state pair, so the several Springfields are counted separately.
- Lead time is measured only where both the listing date and the screening date are known.
- Only listings we have reviewed and published are included.
Figures update daily and will drift as the index grows. Last recomputed August 19, 2026. Quote them freely with a link back to this page, or get in touch if you need a cut we do not publish.
Looking for passes rather than numbers? Browse screenings by city or see which sources we track.