Our guidelines say exactly the reverse.

OK, in that link it does but I read something else on another page which is why I wrote it. I've picked TMDB as a source for my library, it's turning out to be a mistake, considering everyone else appears to use premier dates. I only catch it when a premier date is the official date used everywhere else, and the theatrical release year don't match. All I know is that my Plex library, and even the google search results for TMDB should match the dates the studio uses on their website, dvd cover, imdb even wikipedia!

I obviously don't understand why TMDB leadership made this decision. From my point of view, the movie data is technically correct, however the result, (the year associated with the movie) is wrong.

I can't be sure if this requires a technical solution or a process change. It's possible, I guess, a studio could decide to use a premier date or a theatrical date. If that is a reality, then there should be a way to tag a date as an "official release date".

However, if premier dates are the norm used across the industry, I don't see why TMDB uses another date to associate with movies.

I hope there is some consideration about this.

TMDB, technically right and somehow wrong... https://app.screencast.com/9YD0daGmhS3RM

@SeanZee said:

However, if premier dates are the norm used across the industry, I don't see why TMDB uses another date to associate with movies.

There are no norm used across the industry. Each site has its own set of rules.

I feel like we're missing the forest for the trees here.

Is TMDB supposed to be a source of truth for movies and TV? If so, how are TMDB guidelines more accurate than the movie studio that released the film?

Anyways, I've googled this and there are plenty of complaints around this issue with TMDB. If TMDB thought this was important, it would have fixed it by now.

PS. Media database sites aren't an industry. I was referring to the film industry.

Hi, the data is correct for this entry. However, since TMDb is also a film website (with a discussion forum and the ability to rate movies), the admin once made the editorial decision to use the first official release as the display release date. And as such a theatrical release ranks ahead of a premiere gala screening. This only impacts website visitors and not anyone using the data in other forms. See for example how the data is used on Letterboxd. Closing topic.