Domestic Release Schedule
| Release | Distributor | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| November 22, 1996 | ||
 Shine
Biography
Drama
Music
Romance
With: Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd 1 hr 45 min | Fine Line Features | Limited |
| December 18, 1996 | ||
 In Love and War
Biography
Drama
Romance
War
With: Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Mackenzie Astin, Margot Steinberg 1 hr 53 min | New Line Cinema | Limited |
| December 20, 1996 | ||
 | Miramax | Limited |
| December 27, 1996 | ||
 | Paramount Pictures | Limited |
| January 24, 1997 | ||
 Zeus and Roxanne
Adventure
Comedy
Family
Romance
With: Steve Guttenberg, Kathleen Quinlan, Arnold Vosloo, Dawn McMillan 1 hr 38 min | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Wide |
 | Universal Pictures | Wide |
 Prefontaine
Biography
Drama
Romance
Sport
With: Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey, Ed O'Neill, Breckin Meyer 1 hr 46 min | - | Limited |
| Paramount Pictures | Wide |
 Koyla
Action
Drama
Musical
Romance
Thriller
With: Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet 2 hr 46 min | Miramax | Limited |
 | Arrow Releasing | Limited |
In Love and War
Biography
Drama
Romance
War
With: Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Mackenzie Astin, Margot Steinberg 1 hr 53 min | New Line Cinema | Wide |
| January 31, 1997 | ||
 Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope1997 Special Edition
Action
Adventure
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
With: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness 2 hr 1 min | Twentieth Century Fox | Wide |
 Meet Wally Sparks
Comedy
With: Rodney Dangerfield, Debi Mazar, David Ogden Stiers, Burt Reynolds 1 hr 45 min | Trimark Pictures | Wide |
 Shadow Conspiracy
Action
Thriller
With: Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland, Linda Hamilton, Stephen Lang 1 hr 43 min | - | Wide |
 Gridlock'd
Comedy
Crime
Drama
With: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Charles Fleischer 1 hr 31 min | Gramercy Pictures (I) | Wide |
 | First Look International | Limited |
 Waiting for Guffman
Comedy
With: Christopher Guest, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey 1 hr 24 min | Sony Pictures Classics | Limited |
 Prisoner of the Mountains
Drama
War
With: Oleg Menshikov, Sergey Bodrov, Susanna Mekhraliyeva, Jemal Sikharulidze 1 hr 39 min | Orion Classics | Limited |
| February 7, 1997 | ||
 Dante's Peak
Action
Adventure
Thriller
With: Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Jamie Renée Smith, Jeremy Foley 1 hr 48 min | Universal Pictures | Wide |
 The Beautician and the Beast
Comedy
Romance
With: Fran Drescher, Timothy Dalton, Ian McNeice, Patrick Malahide 1 hr 45 min | Paramount Pictures | Wide |
 | Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Wide |
 Hotel de Love
Comedy
Drama
Romance
With: Aden Young, Saffron Burrows, Simon Bossell, Pippa Grandison 1 hr 35 min | - | Limited |
 | Sony Pictures Classics | Limited |
| February 14, 1997 | ||
 Absolute Power
Action
Crime
Drama
Thriller
With: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney 2 hr 1 min | Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Wide |
 | Warner Bros. | Wide |
 That Darn Cat
Action
Comedy
Crime
Family
Mystery
With: Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, Dean Jones, George Dzundza 1 hr 29 min | - | Wide |
 Fools Rush In
Comedy
Drama
Romance
With: Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Jon Tenney, Carlos Gómez 1 hr 49 min | Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Wide |
 Dangerous Ground
Action
Crime
Drama
Thriller
With: Ice Cube, Elizabeth Hurley, Thokozani Nkosi, Ron Smerczak 1 hr 35 min | New Line Cinema | Wide |
 Touch
Comedy
Drama
Romance
With: Bridget Fonda, Christopher Walken, Skeet Ulrich, LL Cool J 1 hr 36 min | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Limited |
Shine
Biography
Drama
Music
Romance
With: Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd 1 hr 45 min | Fine Line Features | Wide |
 The Graduate1997 Re-release
Comedy
Drama
Romance
With: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels 1 hr 46 min | Strand Releasing | Limited |
| February 21, 1997 | ||
 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back1997 Special Edition
Action
Adventure
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
With: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams 2 hr 4 min | Twentieth Century Fox | Wide |
 | Warner Bros. | Wide |
 Blood and Wine
Crime
Drama
Thriller
With: Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez 1 hr 41 min | Fox Searchlight Pictures | Limited |
 Lost Highway
Mystery
Thriller
With: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito 2 hr 14 min | October Films | Limited |
| February 28, 1997 | ||
 Donnie Brasco
Biography
Crime
Drama
With: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby 2 hr 7 min | Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Wide |
 | Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Wide |
 Hard Eight
Crime
Drama
With: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson 1 hr 42 min | The Samuel Goldwyn Company | Limited |
 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
Crime
Drama
History
Romance
With: Naveen Andrews, Sarita Choudhury, Indira Varma, Ramon Tikaram 1 hr 57 min | Trimark Pictures | Limited |
 Smilla's Sense of Snow
Crime
Drama
Mystery
Sci-Fi
Thriller
With: Julia Ormond, Jens Jørgen Fleischer, Agga Olsen, Patrick Field 2 hr 1 min | Fox Searchlight Pictures | Limited |
| Miramax | Wide |
 | - | Limited |
 Waco: The Rules of Engagement
Documentary
History
With: Dan Gifford, Clive Doyle, Jack Harwell, Joseph Penno 2 hr 16 min | - | Limited |