“The Shawshank Redemption” — one of the most popular movies of all time, according to IMDB — is making its way back to U.S. theaters this fall. In honor of the film’s 25th anniversary, “Shawshank” will be back on the silver screen in select theaters Sept. 22, 24 and 25.
This ’90s movie tells a tale of the irrepressible strength of the human spirit. In it, Red — played by the incomparable Morgan Freeman — is serving a life prison sentence. While there, he forges a bond with Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins), a calm banker who has been wrongly convicted of murder. They become friends and spend 20 years together behind bars, helping each other survive.
According to Fathom Events, the screenings will incorporate exclusive insights from Turner Classic Movies.
Tickets are now on sale, and the Fathom Events site allows you to search for which theaters will be hosting their own screenings. Simply type in your zip code to see if any movie theaters close to you are participating in the event.
The growing popularity of “The Shawshank Redemption” after its premiere in 1994 wasn’t typical. The film actually wasn’t a big hit at the box office upon its release, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. However, in the years since, the film has become a cult favorite — partly because of a smart strategic move by Warner Bros.
Though the film didn’t do great in theaters, the studio shipped 300,000 copies of the movie to VHS video stores nationwide in 1995. It’s a risk that ended up paying off. Inexplicably, people began renting it like crazy. It remains one of the most rented movies of all time!
The broadcast rights to the movie were later purchased by Turner Media, and the film has been shown regularly on the TNT network starting in 1997. That only helped further increase its popularity, and audiences today can still find the film airing on TV regularly.
These days, it’s hard to believe “The Shawshank Redemption” didn’t even hit the $1 million mark in its opening weekend. If it weren’t for that video store release, we may not be talking about it today. Now, it’s widely considered one of the best films of the 1990s.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress even selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The movie is now available to stream on several services, but none are offering it for free along with your subscription fees. Instead, you’ll have to splurge $3.99 to watch it on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Prime and Google Play.
So why not save those few dollars and get a ticket to see it on the big screen in September?
We can’t wait to see Red and Andy together again on the silver screen this fall!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
