Can Somebody tell me what exactly is a theatrical and is it shown only in movie theaters

I assume you mean a theatrical release?

It simply means that a motion picture is getting released in movie theaters nation wide / across the globe.



Movies that are not shown in a lot of theaters are "in limited release".

Movies that don't make it to the theaters at all, or "very, very limited", are direct-to-DVD.

The new thing today seems to be "direct-to-streaming". Kevin Smith is releasing his new film Red State via-streaming first before the DVD/Blu-ray comes out. The film had a very limited run, it wasn't a full theatrical release.





There are a few movies that have been released theatrically that never officially made it to home format.

One that I know of is Disney's Song of the South (1946).

Another category is made for TV movies. These are movies that are made specifically to be shown on television.

Song of the South didn't have an official home video release here in the U.S. but it did have some in Europe, Asia, and in Japan.

Movies that don't make it to the theaters at all, or "very, very limited", are direct-to-DVD.



You also had films that were made specifically for the home video market and never intended for theatrical release, like the shot-on-video movies of the 80's.

Song of the South didn't have an official home video release here in the U.S. but it did have some in Europe, Asia, and in Japan.

Yep, that's where most of our bootlegged copies come from.

You also had films that were made specifically for the home video market and never intended for theatrical release, like the shot-on-video movies of the 80's.

Sometimes, depending on how popular the movies got, they might get a limited theatrical release later on.

I love mentioning this film, but an example of this is Troll 2.