Limited and VOD Releases: Don’t Get Lost on the Way to the Theater

April 14, 2017

The Lost City of Z

We have a bumper crop of limited releases this week, with several that are earning outstanding reviews. Unfortunately, this means there’s way too much competition for all of them to thrive. The Lost City of Z has the loudest buzz and I think that will give it the edge at the box office.

Glory - Reviews
A railway worker finds millions of leva on the train tracks. (Leva is the name of Bulgaria’s currency. Each one is worth about half an American dollar.) He turns it into the police and for a reward gets a pocket watch, which breaks nearly immediately. Worse still, his old watch, and family heirloom, was lost and now he has to find it. The film has 100% positive reviews, so it could find an audience on the art house circuit. On the other hand, it is rather crowded this week.

Heal the Living - Reviews
This movie focuses on three groups who are connected through an organ transport. The reviews are excellent and French films do have a built in audience on the art house circuit. On the other hand, French films rarely expand enough to earn any measure of mainstream success.

Little Boxes - Reviews
Video on Demand
An interracial couple move from New York City to a small town, a small town that is almost entirely White. Their son has the most trouble adjusting to their new surroundings. The reviews are mixed, so it likely won’t do well in theaters. On the other hand, they are not so bad that it is not worth $6 for a rental.

The Lost City of Z - Reviews
Charlie Hunnam plays Percival Fawcett, an explorer who investigated the Amazon Rain Forest finding what he thought was evidence of an advanced civilization that predated Western Civilization. This film is the biggest limited release of the week, at least in terms of buzz. It is not the biggest limited release in terms of theater count, as it is only playing in New York City and Los Angeles this weekend.

Mimosas - Reviews
This film takes place in two timelines, with the long ago timeline about a group of travelers trying to get the body of a deceased sheikh to his home for burial. The reviews are over 90% positive, but even some of the positive reviews call the film an endurance test, so its chances of expanding significantly are very limited.

Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo - Reviews
Video on Demand
A documentary about NASA’s Mission Control during the Apollo 8, 11, and 13 missions. All six reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are 100% positive. On the other hand, it is playing on VOD, so its box office chances are almost non-existent. It only costs $5 to rent, so that’s a great deal.

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea - Reviews
An animated film about a high school that sinks into the sea after a powerful earthquake. The reviews are better than 90% positive and GKIDS has a successful track record with animated films in limited release. However, there are two animated films on this week’s list, so that could hurt its chances.

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer - Reviews
Richard Gere plays a not-quite-confidence man. He has plenty of get-rich schemes, but needs the connections to pull them off. When he finally has a big connection, he uses it to get rich, but it can’t last. This is not a spoiler, as it is in the title. The reviews are amazing and there’s some star power here, so it could do well in limited release.

Queen of the Desert - Reviews
Video on Demand
Werner Herzog wrote and directed this movie about the real-life story of Gertrude Bell, who was a political aide, an explorer, a cartographer, and more in the 1890s. This should be a fantastic movie, but something clearly went wrong. The film’s production was delayed a couple of times, it made its theatrical debut in 2015, but it is only getting a limited release / VOD debut now. You can’t blame the studio for mostly burying it, because the reviews are terrible. This is too bad, as it had a lot of potential.

A Quiet Passion - Reviews
A biographic of Emily Dickinson, starring Cynthia Nixon. The film’s reviews are fantastic; if this film was coming out in October or later, I would assume it was going for Award Season gory. Add in the film’s star power and its genre and it could do very well in limited release, perhaps even score some measure of mainstream success.

Spark: A Space Tail - No Reviews
Normally we don’t talk about limited releases that don’t have any reviews. However, this film is the widest limited release of the week; in fact, it was originally scheduled to open wide, so we can’t ignore it. That said, its box office chances are nearly zero. Animated movies rarely do well in limited release.

The Student - Reviews
Petr Skvortsov plays a Russia student who decides the world is overcome by evil and it is up to him to save the world. Needless to saw, this will end in tragedy. The reviews are excellent, but as a foreign-language film, its chances of escaping the art house circuit are low. Maybe it will do well on the theater chart during its opening weekend.

Tommy’s Honour - Reviews
The real life story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, who were golfing royalty. The film is based on an award-winning book, but the reviews are only good and not great. Furthermore, movies about sports tend to do as well as the sport's popularity, and golf isn’t that popular. You can already pre-order the film on VOD, so maybe wait for that.

Secondary VOD Releases:
Altitude - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Outskirts - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are only two secondary VOD releases on this week’s list and they have a combined two reviews. The Outskirts has one positive review, while Altitude has one negative review.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, The Lost City of Z, Queen of the Desert, The Outcasts, Slava, A Quiet Passion, Réparer les vivants, Tommy’s Honour, (M)uchenik, Spark: A Space Tail, Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, Mimosas, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, Little Boxes, Altitude, Richard Gere, Werner Herzog, Charlie Hunnam, Peter Mullan, Cynthia Nixon, Jack Lowden, Petr Skvortsov