Editing The Deer Hunter (section)

==Theatrical release==

The producer [[Allan Carr]] took control of the movie's marketing and convinced the studio to allow the film to be played on the [[Z Channel]] before theatrical release.<ref name="afi/MC/dH">{{cite web |title=AFI Movie Club: THE DEER HUNTER |url=https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-the-deer-hunter/ |website=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=13 September 2024 |language=en |date=13 September 2024}}</ref>

''The Deer Hunter'' debuted at one theater in [[New York City|New York]] and one in [[Los Angeles]] for a week on December 8, 1978.<ref name=Biskind/><ref name=Bach-166>Bach, p. 166</ref> The release strategy was to qualify the film for [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] consideration and close after a week to build interest.<ref name=Deeley-196/><ref name="afi/MC/dH"/>

After the Oscar nominations, Universal widened the distribution to include major cities, building up to a full-scale release on February 23, 1979, after the previous year's Oscars.<ref name=Deeley-196/> ''The Deer Hunter'' pioneered a new release pattern for so-called prestige pictures that screen only at the end of the year to qualify for Academy Award recognition.<ref>Chaffin-Quiray, Garrett (writer); Schnider, Steven Jay (general editor) (2003). ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' (2003 ed.). London, England: Quintet Publishing. p. 642. {{ISBN|0-7641-5701-9}}.</ref> The film eventually grossed $48.9 million at the US box office.<ref name=BOM/>

[[CBS]] paid $3.5 million for three runs of the film. The network later canceled the acquisition on the contractually permitted grounds of the film containing too much violence for US network transmission;<ref name=Deeley-181>Deeley, p. 181</ref> the Russian-roulette scene was deemed controversial.<ref name="afi/MC/dH"/>