August 5, 2018

Steven Seagal, Who’s Banned From Ukraine, Named a ‘Special Representative’ of Russian Foreign Ministry

Steven Seagal, who is currently banned from Ukraine after being labeled a threat to national security, has been named a “special representative” of the Russian Foreign Ministry. A Russian citizen since 2016 and ally of Vladimir Putin who vehemently denies that the country interfered in America’s 2016 presidential election, Seagal’s role will concern “the sphere of culture, public and youth exchanges” and be similar to that of a United Nations goodwill ambassador.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Facebook post announcing the appointment, Seagal will not receive a monetary reward for his duties — such is his commitment to Mother Russia. That same commitment is the reason the “Under Siege” and “Hard to Kill” has been deemed persona non grata by neighboring Ukraine, which bans those who have “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security.” Seagal has called Russia’s annexation of Crimea “very reasonable.”

“For anyone to think that Vladimir Putin had anything to do with fixing the elections, or even that the Russians have that kind of technology, is stupid,” Seagal said during an appearance on “Good Morning Britain” last year. “And this kind of propaganda is really a diversion…so that the people in the United States of America won’t really see what’s happening.

Source: IndieWire film

August 5, 2018

‘BlacKkKlansman’ Features an Unreleased Prince Song on the Soundtrack, Spike Lee Reveals

“BlacKkKlansman” has been earning praise and making headlines since its world premiere at Cannes, where Spike Lee’s latest was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix. Now, on the eve of the film’s theatrical release, there’s more news still: “BlacKkKlansman” uses the unreleased Prince song “Mary Don’t You Weep” during its end credits.

“I knew that I needed an end-credits song,” Lee told Rolling Stone. “I’ve become very close with Troy Carter, one of the executives at Spotify [and a Prince estate advisor]. So I invited Troy to a private screening. And after, he said, ‘Spike, I got the song.’ And that was ‘Mary Don’t You Weep,’ which had been recorded on cassette in the mid-80s.”

“Prince wanted me to have that song, I don’t care what nobody says,” he added. “My brother Prince wanted me to have that song. For this film. There’s no other explanation to me. This cassette is in the back of the vaults. In Paisley Park. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it’s discovered? Nah-ah. That ain’t an accident [laughs].”

Lee threw the second annual “Prince’s Born Day Purple People Party” in early June, alluding to the possibility of making a film about the dearly departed icon: “I’d love to, but it’s not for me to say. It’d have to come from the estate or the publishing house or the label — I’d love to, but I can’t just say ‘I’m doing it.’”

“BlacKkKlansman,” meanwhile, opens in limited release this Friday, August 10.

Source: IndieWire film

August 5, 2018

‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ Leads Openers as Specialty Summer 2018 Soars

Happy days continue at the specialty box office. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” (FilmRise) is yet another Sundance debut to open well in limited release, in New York.

And several strong summer performers keep chugging along in wider release: “Eighth Grade” (A24) and “Three Identical Strangers” (Neon) lead the holdovers this week. Both could wind up with ultimate totals over $10 million.

Opening

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (FilmRise) – Metacritic: 69; Festivals include: Sundance, San Francisco, Seattle 2018

$53,000 in 2 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $26,500

The biggest opening in the history of FilmRise (by a large margin), this Sundance drama stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a teen sent to gay conversion camp by her religious parents after being caught with another girl. This opened initially in two Manhattan locations, with Moretz boosting interest with Q&A sessions at the theaters. This drama joins non-documentary specialized releases “Eighth Grade,” “Sorry to Bother You,” and “Leave No Trace” with strong initial response, unlike many that have fallen short this year. And it is another than seems to be boosted by its focus on female characters.

What comes next: Seven new cities open this Friday.

Sundance

Never Goin’ Back (A24) – Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Sundance, South by Southwest 2018

$10,044 in 2 theaters; PTA: $5,022

Two young Texas waitresses break loose and join forces for a road trip in Augustine Frizzel’s debut feature which scored a coveted A24 acquisition at Sundance. The movie landed good theater placement in New York and Los Angeles, but not a strong initial result.

What comes next: A specialized location expansion starts this Friday.

Week Two

Puzzle (Sony Pictures Classics)

$128,598 in 16 theaters (+11); PTA: $8,037; Cumulative: $225,936

Kelly McDonald plays a home-bound suburban wife who becomes obsessed with jigsaw puzzles and opens up socially, engaging romantically with her puzzle partner (Irrfan Khan) in this drama, which expanded to top cities with a gross above most of SPC’s recent releases.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Greenwich)

$43,259 in 5 theaters (+4); PTA: $8,652; Cumulative: $80,234

This documentary about the lesser known activities of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars came to New York and added some Los Angeles theaters after its very strong initial opening. The IFC Center did a $24,000 initial exclusive gross, in the range of the Arclight Hollywood last weekend. Chicago and San Francisco open this Friday.

The Captain (Music Box)  1-13

$6,016 in 2 theaters (+1); PTA: $3,013; Cumulative: $18,829

This German WWII faked identity escape story added Chicago in its second week to its initial New York exclusive to minor results. Music Box has this set for multiple big city dates ahead, including Los Angeles among new ones this Friday.

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Ongoing/expanding (grosses over $50,000)

Eighth Grade (A24) – Week 4

$2,870,000 in 1,084 theaters (+926); Cumulative: $6,581,000

The quick and quite wide national break for this middle school girl’s awkward coming-of-age story showed strong results in some locations. A24 has released several broader hits (led by the recent “Hereditary,” at $44 million their biggest yet). “Eighth Grade” by rough comparison at a similar stage is doing about two-thirds as well as their “Ex Machina,” which ended up over $25 million.

Three Identical Strangers (Neon) – Week 6

$1,054,000 in 405 theaters (-28); Cumulative: $8,480,000

An excellent hold (down a little over ten percent) for this audience-grabbing documentary will easily top $10 million and might even reach the amazing “RBG” ultimate total (around $14 million).

Sorry to Bother You (Annapurna) – Week 5

$810,000 in 404 theaters (-398); Cumulative: $14,917,000

Boots Riley’s acclaimed genre-bender shed about half of its theaters. But those remaining lifted the per theater average to about $2,000, better than last weekend. That should keep this afloat at most of the better performing theaters, as this successful Sundance release heads to an ultimate gross likely in the $17-18 million range.

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Blindspotting (Lionsgate) – Week 3

$660,000 in 523 theaters (no change); Cumulative: $3,172,000

With the same theater count as last weekend, on its first wider national break, this Oakland story of young men struggling to stay on the good side of the law dropped 48 per cent. This is likely not enough to sustain an extended run at most theaters.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus) – Week 9

$495,000 in 284 theaters (-180); Cumulative: $21,032,000

The per-theater average actually went up this weekend in the late stages of the spectacular run of the Fred Rogers documentary. Documentaries have become a dominant force in specialized films, and whatever the ultimate gross here, its figure (which should get at least $2 million higher) is by far the best among them over the past four years, the best from the specialized world in over a decade, and the best ever for a biodoc.

Leave No Trace (Bleecker Street) – Week 6

$266,701 in 169 theaters (-120); Cumulative: $5,194,000

Debra Granik’s first film since her Oscar nominated “Winter’s Bone” in 2010 is one of the few specialized dramas currently breaking out beyond the recent $3 million maximum beyond which it seems tough to reach. “Bone” adjusted (also a summer release, with its awards run after it had left theaters) reached (adjusted) about $8 million. This should approach $6 million, which in today’s environment makes it perhaps a more impressive achievement.

Ann Ray

McQueen (Bleecker Street) – Week 3

$181,664 in 34 theaters (+29); Cumulative: $491,073

In the subset of documentaries about fashion world icons, “McQueen” (that’s Alexander, not either of the Steves) in its third week is doing well and at a level above recent ones about Dior and Diana Vreeland, but not quite as well as “The September Issue” (focusing on Anna Wintour). This looks headed for a potential gross between their levels, perhaps around $2 million or more.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (Amazon) – Week 4

$147,972 in 177 theaters (-89); Cumulative: $1,209,000

Gus Van Sant’s latest (Portland-set) film is struggling to find a sizable audience. Even with Joaquin Phoenix and Jonah Hill among those in the cast, this will end up no better than $2 million.

RBG (Magnolia) – Week 14

$(est.) 105,000 in 57 theaters (-46); Cumulative: $13,580,000

This huge success refuses to go quietly into the night, just like its subject.

The Cakemaker (Strand) – Week 6

$(est.) 56,000 in 31 theaters (-3); Cumulative: $(est.) 577,000

This Israeli drama about disparate worlds interacting in Israel continues to add to its gross and become one of the rare subtitled specialized films this year to gain traction.

Also noted:

Far from the Tree (IFC) – $26,664 in 13 theaters; Cumulative: $72,876

Dark Money (PBS) – $26,525 in 15 theaters; Cumulative: $94,148

Whitney (Roadside Attractions) – $19,500 in 27 theaters; Cumulative: $2,947,000

The King (Oscilloscope) – $16,525 in 27 theaters; Cumulative: $236,550

Hearts Beat Loud (The Orchard) – $14,132 in 33 theaters; Cumulative: $2,355,000

Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti (Cohen) – $13,793 in 7 theaters; Cumulative: $164,214

1945 (Menemsha) – $12,074 in 10 theaters; Cumulative: $802,087

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Source: IndieWire film

August 5, 2018

Boots Riley Says ‘Sorry to Bother You’ Isn’t Playing Abroad Because Distributors Think ‘Black’ Movies Don’t Perform Well

“Sorry to Bother You” has had a strong showing at the domestic box office, earning nearly $15 million in its first month of release despite never playing in more than 1,050 theaters. In spite of that, Boots Riley’s out-there directorial debut — which stars Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson and premiered at Sundance earlier this year — has yet to play in theaters abroad. Riley thinks he knows why: There’s a stigma against “black” movies, which distributors don’t believe will perform well internationally.

“Even tho we’r outperforming a gang of other movies, distributors r claiming ‘Black movies’ dont do well internationally and r treating it as such,” he tweeted. “There’r films that bombed here, that theyr distributing. Let em know wsup.” The film follows a black telemarketer (Stanfield) who adopts a white-sounding voice during calls in order to be more successful; it only gets stranger from there, veering into sci-fi surrealism as it explores race relations and other far-flung subjects.

Meanwhile, “Black Panther” — which some might likewise pigeonhole as a “black” movie — is among the most successful films of the year, earning more than $1.3 billion worldwide.

re: the international distribution of #SorryToBotherYou :

Even tho we’r outperforming a gang of other movies, distributors r claiming “Black movies” dont do well internationally and r treating it as such. There’r films that bombed here, that theyr distributing. Let em know wsup

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) August 4, 2018

Source: IndieWire film

August 5, 2018

Kurt Russell Defends James Gunn: ‘I Think We’re Getting a Little Too Sensitive’

After the entire main cast of “Guardians of the Galaxy” signed a letter in support of James Gunn, who was fired from the franchise by Disney after offensive tweets from years past resurfaced, Kurt Russell has added his voice to the chorus. Russell, who had a supporting role in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” said last night that he thinks “we’re getting a little too sensitive” and that he hopes Gunn is forgiven.

“It’s sad. But it’s a part of our fabric now and I get it,” Russell told Variety. “But I do think we’re getting a little too sensitive on maybe some of the wrong people.”

“You have to realize that when you are in that world as a comedian, a writer, whatever you’re always stretching the boundaries and trying to find something which lead him to something that the world loves, which is ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’” Russell added. “He has a wonderful heart and a wonderful mind. I hope he is forgiven.”

“Guardians” star Dave Bautista was among the first to go on the record in support of Gunn, even before he and his fellow cast mates wrote their letter; in addition, Selma Blair has quit Twitter in solidarity with the filmmaker and a petition was launched calling on Disney to rehire him. In spite of that, it was reported earlier this week that Gunn’s ouster is likely permanent.

Source: IndieWire film