Useless Trivia: Leap Day Movies Are Very, Very Rare

Today is February 29 -- you know, Leap Day. I've always thought that since February 29 is a bonus day, nothing we do should count against our permanent record. Skip work, get drunk, start a fight, whatever. It doesn't count! Today doesn't even really exist! It's like a limbo day between February and March.

Now, a peculiarity of our Gregorian calendar is that February 29 falls on a Friday (or on any other particular day) only every 28 years. Leap day was a Friday in 1924, 1952, and 1980; it'll happen again in 2036. And since movies are generally released on Friday, that means movies with a release date of February 29 are exceedingly rare, being limited to the years I just mentioned.

Does anyone else find this interesting?! Then stay with me!

Today's new releases -- Semi-Pro, Penelope, The Other Boleyn Girl, and a few limited-release flicks -- have very little company in the February 29 Release Date Club. You can have a look on IMDb's history page for February 29, but keep in mind that their list includes shorts, as well as movies that "opened" at film festivals on February 29, neither of which really count for our purposes.
On leap day in 1980, the documentary Best Boy (which would go on to win the Oscar) opened in limited release. It was joined by the shlocky horror film Don't Answer the Phone! and the Jodie Foster/Scott Baio feature Foxes. I believe this is the only Foster/Baio pairing in cinema history. (So far!)

Going back to 1952, the only leap day releases were a few animated shorts. Leap day 1924 has a couple entries, though it's hard to be certain they actually opened on that day. With some of the more obscure older films, people submitting information to IMDb often just guess at the exact month and day of release. And movies in those days didn't necessarily open on Fridays, either, so there could be some valid Feb. 29 releases from other leap years in the 1920s and '30s.

"But wait!" you're thinking. "What about years where Feb. 29 is a Wednesday? Don't movies get released on Wednesdays sometimes, too?" Yes they do, and that's a very astute observation. I like the way you think. Leap day was a Wednesday in 1928, 1956, and 1984. IMDb has no entries for Feb. 29, 1984, and just one for 1956: Slightly Scarlet, a film noir I'm not familiar with. The 1928 entries are all shorts.

To summarize, then:

1. I'm an obsessive-compulsive with too much time on his hands.

2. As far as I can determine with any degree of certainty, the only feature films with a theatrical release date of Feb. 29 throughout all of history are the ones opening today, plus three in 1980 and one in 1956. So if you want your movie to be really, really special, shoot for a release date of Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012.