Well, this bites...
And, not in a good way!
Some friends of mine and I were talking about going to see "Brokeback Mountain" today. I told them (what with my new found movie industry knowledge) that it would be important to see it the first weekend it was out, cause the execs look at those numbers as some sort of Holy Grail indicators, for whether or not they should continue to do these "kinds" of movies. (For those living under a rock, this is the FIRST gay movie to receive any kind of major support from the studio system, not to mention a major ad campaign and to have some rather impressive "names" attached to it.)
IT'S NOT PLAYING IN ATLANTA! Not 'til NEXT weekend. WTF?
LA? Check.
NYC? Check.
SF? Check (After all, it's THE queer city.)
But. Haven't those idiots figured out that Atlanta IS the gay Mecca of the South? Every queer kid from a podunk town in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, not to mention Georgia typically heads straight (no pun intended) for Atlanta just as soon as they can. There's a HUGE gay population here, in fact we are the 3rd (SF, NYC AND ATL in that order, using the numbers from Gay Pride) largest in terms of gay population among American cities. Why were we not included in this all important first weekend?
THEN, get this...when it does open here next weekend... it will open in ONE theater.
ONE. In a 60 mile radius.
WTF?
I could understand if they were limiting this to the "gay" market via their advertising or something but they're NOT. So, why limit your distribution to the only theater in Atlanta that's located in the "gay ghetto? (Frankly, it's not so much the gay ghetto any more. I live in the neighborhood, in a building of less than 30 condos, out of the residents, 8, maybe 9 are gay... the rest? Straight. Open minded, but straight.) Do they think they are helping the movie by making people drive 20, 30, maybe 60 miles to see it in a theater?
Wanna know what I think? I think they're afraid it won't be seen by straight people, (especially straight guys) and they using the theatrical release as a promo for dvd sales?
Sad, really, that they don't think the movie has enough appeal on it's own to transcend the supposed "ick" factor of guys kissing.
I plan on rounding up a whole lotta folks for the movie, just to show them they were wrong for not giving it a wider distro.
posted by writergurl @ 12/11/2005 11:42:00 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I agree that the subject matter has altered Focus Feature's release pattern somewhat but my understanding is that it has more to do with building a slow burn towards the Oscars in March and building word of mouth over a period of months than any blatant kowtowing to straight audiences. They have to show it in NYC/LA before the end of the year to ensure eligibility for many of the industry awards.
FWIW, I'm comfortable enough with my straightitude and I can't wait to see it.
I wouldn't worry. It made like $500,000 in 5 theaters this weekend. They are going to release it slow, and let it build, but if it gets the Oscar noms it should get (the LA Critics just named it best film of the year), it should get a wide release. I've already predicted that it'll make $90 million.
They may wait until King Kong stops hogging half the theaters in multiplexes, though, which is going to start on Wednesday.
Slowly slowly catchee Oscar monkey :)
I just saw that it took in over 500K at only 5 locations. Good.
I hope it does win some Oscars. I'll be seeing it this coming weekend!
(Anything to get my mind off the Writer's Arc wait!)
Ditto to the guys above -- the "one theater" platforming is actually not unusual for Focus; they're specifically trying to build momentum, gathering up the good press and the other noms that are sure to come, and the film will absolutely get wide release; it's already got major word-of-mouth on the two coasts and Ledger looks like a lock as an Oscar front-runner. So worry not!
Good Luck with the Arc folks and thanks for the nice comment on my me-as-leigh post.
I hope you kick ass at the Writer's Arc.
You'll be seeing Brokeback around plenty i think; it's getting too many kudos not to. They're just stating slowly.
I agree with Scott The Reader, it can do 90, maybe more.
It's the leading Golden Globe nomination getter with 7, including best picture.
The NY film critics named it best picture too.
Thanks for all the comments, guys. I guess I can see the merit of building a "rep" for the picture... but, it's already got GREAT word of mouth (especially in light of all the awards, kudo, etc.) so I'm not fully buying into the "It's all for the Oscars" thing. I STILL don't see how they could be opening in ONE theater in a city of roughly 4.5 million people.
I know ONE thing, I'm seeing it this weekend, I already got tixs!
Hey WG. I haven't been to Atlanta for a couple of decades but I remember it being the place to go for all my glbt friends from Tennessee. When my long-time fiancee left me for another women 20 years ago she moved from western Washington State to be with... a woman from just outside Atlanta. I agree it's a bummer they're not opening the movie there. Personally I think there will be relatively few people seeing the movie in theaters outside of the big cities you've named but I also think it's going to sell gratifyingly well when it goes to DVD.
Take care,
figleaf
Hey WG. I haven't been to Atlanta for a couple of decades but I remember it being the place to go for all my glbt friends from Tennessee. When my long-time fiancee left me for another women 20 years ago she moved from western Washington State to be with... a woman from just outside Atlanta. I agree it's a bummer they're not opening the movie there. Personally I think there will be relatively few people seeing the movie in theaters outside of the big cities you've named but I also think it's going to sell gratifyingly well when it goes to DVD.
Take care,
figleaf
It FINALLY came to San Antonio yesterday. Two theatres. ALL SOLD OUT.
The movie faired well in George Bush land.
And it was awesome.
Post a Comment
<< Home