Fox is making most critics wait until Wednesday, July 24th, when The Simpsons Movie premieres in Los Angeles (and Vermont), to see the film.  Since The Simpsons Movie opens nationwide on Friday, July 27th, Fox's strategy qualifies as keeping the film under wraps, something that heretofore has only been done to 'protect' films from critical attack.  Earlier this year Sony/Columbia did not provide critics a chance to preview Ghost Rider and, although eventually the film received poor notices (only 27% positive reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes), it made $115 million domestically and $224 million worldwide.

But according to the Los Angeles Times, a Fox spokeswoman told the paper that the studio was holding back for fear that in this age of Internet journalism, critics have 'gotten away from anyone adhering to a review date.'  According to Fox the producers aren't worried about the quality of The Simpsons Movie, they are concerned about the film's plot points being discussed by reviewers and argued about by fans in the weeks before the film is released.  If that is the case and not just studio spin, then the plot of The Simpsons Movie is likely to contain something pretty sensational.  Or this move may be getting the fans to ruminate on the endless possibilities of various shocking narratives, just more of the studio's 'zen' marketing campaign (see 'The Simpsons Movie's Anti-Corporate Marketing Campaign') that also included a nationwide contest among the numerous American cities named 'Springfield' to function as TV's most dysfunctional family's hometown for the film's premiere, a distinction that was won by Springfield, Vermont.