Why does my URL keep returning 404 error code?

Question

I have a custom type on my wordpress site called 'movie'.

If the user type this URL : http://mysite.com/1994,
I would like to display all movies published in 1994.

Unfortunately, I get a consistent 404 error. When I call get_post_type in index.php(that is the template page called since I didn't defined 404.php), it displays 'movie' but I have no movie called 1994... at least not yet.

I have pretty permalinks ON.

If I ask the rewrite rule inspector to check the URL, here is the result for http://mysite.com/1994:

([0-9]{4})/?$   index.php?year=$matches[1]  date
(.?.+?)(/[0-9]+)?/?$    index.php?pagename=$matches[1]&page=$matches[2] page
([^/]+)(/[0-9]+)?/?$    index.php?name=$matches[1]&page=$matches[2] post

What am I missing?

Answer 1

Here is the solution of my problem, thanks to @Milo:

function wpa_date_archive_post_types( $query ){
    if( $query->is_main_query() && $query->is_date() ):
        $query->set( 'post_type'   , array( 'movie'   ) );
        $query->set( 'year'        , 0                );
        $query->set( 'tag'         , '1994' );
        $query->set( 'post_status' , array( 'publish' ) );
    endif;
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'wpa_date_archive_post_types' );

Answer 2

Displaying multiple posts by 1994 makes "1994" a term in a taxonomy, much like Categories or Tags are taxonomy.

So you need to think about a template suitable for taxonomy, listing multiple posts. You'll need another template for viewing any movie clicked on.

Do you have a taxonomy setup for Dates Alex?