The film had a foreign (french) distributor. Some studios have special agreements over how their trailers are used (must show with this film, etc.).
Considering the 30 minutes of Hollywood drivel they can pack into the trailers before a movie, this may have been a blessing.
Roger Ebert didn’t review this. They say there were no advance previous. Odd. Rush saw it. Laura Ingraham saw it. It was screened to some people over a month before the opening day.
It was shown (rough cut) at the RNC, I heard. There was no advance screening for critics for a good reason, and Zucker has said this: they knew the critics would lambaste it. The same thing tends to happen with movies that the studios know will probably get horrible reviews: No screenings are held,
and in your Friday paper you’ll see this:
“An advanced screening of ‘An American Carol’ was not
made available. A review of the movie will appear in
tomorrow’s paper.”