Runaway Limited Releases
March 19, 2010
A large list of limited releases this week, including a few that are opening large for a limited release. The Runaways is the biggest limited release of the week, perhaps too big, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is earning the best reviews.
City Island - Reviews
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Reviews
Greenberg - Reviews
IMAX Hubble 3D - Reviews
The Red Baron - Reviews
The Runaways - Reviews
Vincere - Reviews
Andy Garcia stars as a prison guard who is secretly taking acting classes. However, that's not the only secret he has, while his entire family has major secrets of their own. The film has a great cast, but its reviews are not quite up to the level one normally associates with success in limited release. Then again, perhaps the cast will help it during its opening weekend enough that the mostly positive reviews will be able to do the rest. City Island opens tonight in two theaters, the Landmark Theatre in Los Angeles and the Angelika Film Center in New York City.
An absolutely massive hit internationally, this film finally opens in the United States this weekend having previously opened in Canada. Given its performance up here, and its reviews, it could be a breakout hit paving the way for its two sequels. On the other hand, it might have to wait till the home market to find an audience, while this could just be a test run to see if it is worth remaking for an English-speaking audience. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens tonight in 38 theaters in major cities nationwide.
Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who has a following on the Art House circuit. On the other hand, it stars Ben Stiller, who doesn't. Yes, the actor was also in The Royal Tenenbaums, which is one of the biggest hits to come out of limited release in the past decade, but for the most part he is known for films like Night at the Museum and Meet the Parents. The film's reviews are nearly at the level normally associated with success in limited release and like City Island, it could open well enough thanks to its pedigree that the positive word-of-mouth will be given enough time to propel it forward. Greenberg opens tonight in three theaters, two in New York City and one in Los Angeles.
The latest Edutainment release from IMAX. This one looks out at the cosmos from the eyes of the Hubble space telescope, but it focuses mostly on the space mission to fix said telescope. As one might expect, the visuals are amazing; however, not every critic agrees that that is enough to make a compelling movie. (Or to be more specific, there's too much on the astronauts and not enough on the cosmos.) Alice in Wonderland is taking up a lot of IMAX screens, so I'm not sure if there will be enough for this film to thrive. That said, these films tend to have long, long legs and this movie should still be in plenty of theaters this time next year.
It's Flyboys from the German point of view. Unfortunately, this film is earning even weaker reviews than Flyboys did and its box office potential is lower. There are some impressive fight scenes in the movie, but most critics agree that's all the film has going for it and for most that's not enough. The Red Baron opens tonight in more than a dozen theaters, but that might be as far as it goes.
I'm not sure about this film's box office chances. On the one hand, it's opening in far too many theaters for a limited release and its Tomatometer Score is merely good and not great. On the other hand, there are few limited releases that have this much mainstream advance buzz going in. With hot young stars that include New Moon's Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, the film could still be a surprise hit at the box office, but it might have been wiser to release it wide instead of trying a select city release first. Time will tell.
The latest from writer / director Marco Bellocchio, whose previous films include Goodmorning, Night and The Wedding Director. Considering neither of those movies were box office hits, it is unlikely that this one will be either. However, given its reviews, it deserves some measure of mainstream success. Vincere opens tonight at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the IFC Center, both in New York City.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Män som hatar kvinnor, City Island, Vincere, Greenberg, Hubble 3D, The Runaways, The Red Baron