While we little people think of Sundance as the place indies go to get major buzz before they're unleashed into the free world, a majority of Hollywood insiders think of it as a business trip. They're either there to sell a movie or buy one. This year, however, many film producers were being low-balled because of the recession-hits that major studios have taken in this declining economy. While in the past studios may have taken a chance with an indie they'd give a limited release to, most of them were holding on tight to their wallets. What's made the situation even worse is that studios are scoring bootleg DVD screeners of the films, giving them the opportunity to mull it over before they even landed in Park City. It's one thing to watch a film, walk out of the theater, and realize you have, at best, a 24-hr window to make a bid for what could be the next Juno, and it's another to have a rewind button to dissect a film thoroughly and overthink what used to be an instinctual impulse-buy.
Luckily, some of the films already had distribution locked in before they debuted. For example, Kevin Bacon's Taking Chance will be on HBO in February, Amy Poehler's Spring Breakdown, which got a lot of good buzz, will get a DVD release, and the quirky comedy Adventureland will be in theaters this March. Here are a few of those who arrived sporting blank sale tags:
SCORED DISTRIBUTION
• Brooklyn's Finest (3 mil)
• An Education (3 mil)
• Spread (3.5 mil)
• Humpday
• Adam
• Lymelife
• The September Issue (Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour documentary)
DISTRIBUTION STILL PENDING
• I Love You Phillip Morris
• Cold Souls
• Paper Heart
• Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire
GREAT BUZZ
• Rudo y Cursi
• 500 Days of Summer
BIG WINNERS
• Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire won Audience award, Grand Jury award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and a Special Jury Prize
• Sin Nombre won Directing and Cinematography honors
• Paper Heart's Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi won Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
• Humpday won Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence
FEATURED CLIPS
• John Krasinski talks about his directorial debut, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
• Uma Thurman and Mini Driver in the comedy Motherhood
For more coverage, visit EW.com and HollywoodReporter.com.
Black Dynamite also got a distrubution deal. I really hope something happens for Push because I can't wait to see that movie. That and 500 Days of Summer. Zooey Deschanel is one of my new favs.
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