The man you know as Pete (and I know as Little Miss Sunshine) has asked to be let back into the fold, and well, with the Labor Day weekend and all... I'm feeling generous.
Here are Pete's Picks at the box office this weekend for the new releases:
Now, I haven't seen The Wicker Man yet, but is that a giant fish costume??
Erik Childress is a bit of a watchdog when it comes to how studios handle the critics, and how critics handle films. He's also quite verbose, and you should only read the entire article if you are passionate about this area (or skip to the bottom, where he just slams some quote whores relentlessly).
But if you want to see a new level of depravity in how studios are handling critics, check this out. It's one thing to not show a film to critics, so that they can't review it in their Friday papers. It's quite another thing to show it to them, but then tell them that even though they've seen it, even though the film has opened and random strangers on the street have sen the film, they still are not allowed to break their embargo and write about it until the Saturday after the film has opened.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Crank, distributed by Lions Gate Films... breaking new ground in public relations disasters.
Through April, there were 14 films kept from the non-junket press. This summer, including Snakes, there have only been five. And based on the eventual critical response – See No Evil (6%), Pulse (15%), Zoom (0%), Material Girls (6%), only Snakes had any serious backing. It was also a hype film, much like the sequels (Big Momma’s House 2, Underworld Evolution, Madea’s Family Reunion), remakes (When a Stranger Calls), video games (Silent Hill) and familiarity (Date Movie, The Benchwarmers) that turned any decent bank despite the non-screening strategy and the only title of the 19 to pass the 30% positive barrier.
Sept. 1 will mark the date when the “not screened for critics” banner hits the “three times as much as 2005” status as The Wicker Man, Crank and Mike Judge’s rampantly-delayed Idiocracy (which will be Fox/Fox Searchlight’s fifth no-show of the year ahead of Sony/Screen Gems pace-setting six.)
Crank is being screened for the junketeers, but issued a strict POST-RELEASE DATE embargo where attendees were not allowed to post their reviews online or in print until Saturday, Sept. 2. Quite a change from the studios utilizing junket whores to get their blurbs into print the Sunday before release.
Recent Comments