The Movie Database Support
Support → API Support
Questions about discover endpoint
posted by Matrix159STAFFMOD on February 16, 2017 at 7:35 PM
So say I make this call:
https://api.themoviedb.org/3/discover/movie?api_key=###&language=en-US®ion=US&sort_by=primary_release_date.asc&include_adult=true&include_video=false&page=1&primary_release_date.gte=2017-02-02&primary_release_date.lte=2017-03-02&with_release_type=3
What I'm trying to do is find movies that are currently in theaters in the US, but since I'm using the region query should I sort and limit by release date or primary release date? I'm kinda really confused as to the real difference between release date and primary release date. I'm also confused as to the difference between a limited theatrical release and a normal theatrical release. If anyone could provide some more insight into these two things that would be greatly appreciated!
Reply by Travis Bell
on February 16, 2017 at 10:42 PM
Primary release date is a single date value based on all of the release dates we have added. As such, using it with the
regionfilter would make it pretty useless. When using theregionfilter you should use therelease_datefilters.With regards to limited vs. theatrical, this is a difference between the way movies often get released in theatres. A recent one that comes to mind was The Hateful Eight. There was a limited release they did a week before it opened up wide across the U.S./Canada. I would generally say just use both,
&with_release_type=3|2.Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 10:44 PM
Alright thanks!
Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 10:52 PM
So after switching to using release_date for all filters and sorting and using the constraints 2017-02-02 < x < 2017-03-02 I'm getting movies with release dates from 1995, any insight into that?
Reply by Travis Bell
on February 16, 2017 at 10:58 PM
There must be some release dates with the release_type you specified added. Only way to fix that would be to fix the data.
Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 11:08 PM
Ah the movie showing up has two release dates October 10, 1995 and February 7, 2017, would removing the region query and just specifying with_original_language=en while using primary release date be a better option to find new movies then?
Reply by Travis Bell
on February 16, 2017 at 11:09 PM
Primary release date will have other problems, like not showing movies that were released in Europe months ago, or vice versa if you were in Europe with U.S. releases.
Bad data, is bad data though. One of those dates isn't right, we should fix it there. What movie is this?
Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 11:14 PM
What if you don't need other country releases though? And oh okay, I thought when you said the only way to fix it was to fix the data I thought it was a done deal. Over the line is the movie in question though.
Reply by Travis Bell
on February 16, 2017 at 11:28 PM
Ya, that 2017 release was bogus I believe. I deleted it. There will be bad data from time to time.
Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 11:30 PM
Okay yeah I switched back to region based discovery because it works better (when there isn't bad data), so can any user change movie data is that what happens?
Reply by Travis Bell
on February 16, 2017 at 11:31 PM
Yes, this is why we lock verified data but at this time, release dates don't have locks.
Reply by Matrix159
on February 16, 2017 at 11:35 PM
Thanks! Well that clears up all the confusion as to why my results were skewed.