Limited and VOD Releases: Bitter Pill to Swallow
March 6, 2020
There are way too many limited releases and I fear this will hurt the box office chances of any film coming out this week. This is too bad, as there are several that deserve to find an audience, including Bacurau, Extra Ordinary, First Cow, Go Back to China, and so many more. It’s going to be tough when none of the films open in the $10,000 club.
Bacurau - Reviews
The Banker - Reviews
The Burnt Orange Heresy - Reviews
Escape From Pretoria - Reviews
Extra Ordinary - Reviews
First Cow - Reviews
Go Back to China - Reviews
Hope Gap - Reviews
I Wish I Knew - Reviews
The Keeper - Reviews
Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh - Reviews
Sorry We Missed You - Reviews
Swallow Reviews
The Wild Goose Lake - Reviews
Secondary VOD Releases:
This film is set in a near future Brazil and is an allegory for the sociopolitical climate in the country today. The reviews are really strong and the message is an important one, but I fear the film is too out there to find an audience.
Inspired by a real life story of a pair of African-American entrepreneurs who have to hire a white guy to pose to be the boss in order to be taken seriously. The reviews are good, but not good enough to survive in limited release, so I would wait until it hits the home market.
A neo-noir thriller with mixed reviews that will likely go nowhere at the box office.
Video on Demand
A thriller about the real-life prison break of three political prisoners in apartheid era South Africa. The reviews are good, but not good enough to thrive in limited release. They are good enough to rent on VOD.
Video on Demand
We talked about this film last year, but it got pushed back, as happens to many limited releases. In fact, this isn’t even the only film on this week’s list that was pushed back. The reviews are 100% positive, so maybe it will find an audience, but it will likely find that audience on VOD.
This is one of the biggest limited releases on this week’s list, at least in terms of buzz. It’s not among the biggest in terms of theater count. Fortunately its reviews live up to its buzz and the film has a real shot at finding some box office success.
Video on Demand
Anna Akana stars in this semi-autobiographical story inspired by writer / director Emily Ting. The reviews are on the border between being merely good and good enough for limited release. However, it is playing on VOD, so its box office chances would be close to zero, even if it had stellar reviews.
Annette Bening plays a woman who struggles to adjust when her marriage abruptly ends after nearly 30 years. She and Bill Nighy do as much as they can with the material, but it isn’t enough to truly save the film.
This is not the first release date we’ve had for this film. In fact, I’ve seen at least two previous release dates. Hopefully this one sticks and it doesn’t show up on this list again in a few weeks.
The true life story of a Germany soldier and prisoner of war who became a football player in Britain after World War II. Needless to say, this caused some controversy, especially among the Jewish fans of the team. The reviews suggest it could find an audience in limited release, but inspirational sports stories based on real life events haven’t been a reliable box office draw recently. This is doubly true if the sport in question isn’t very popular here, which is the case with football.
This film’s reviews are merely good and not good enough to thrive in limited release. That said, I think it has the potential to find a cult audience on the home market.
A movie about a family still reeling from the 2008 economic crash when the father decides to sell the family car to buy a delivery fan and become a “self-employed” delivery driver. The reviews are good and the subject is relevant. However, I don’t think the film has the buzz to find an audience in limited release.
Video on Demand
A psychological suspense film about a pregnant woman who seems to have the perfect life; however, the pressures from her husband and her in-laws causes her to eat inedible objects. The reviews are good enough that it is worth checking out, but it is playing on VOD, so its box office chances are close to zero.
A Chinese neo-noir film about a small-time gangster who accidentally kills a cop and goes on the run as a result. The reviews are excellent and Chinese films are starting to develop an audience here.
Final Kill - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Only - Reviews - Video on Demand
Queen of Paradis - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Run This Town - Reviews - Video on Demand
This film’s list of secondary VOD titles is comprised of films with no reviews and films with mixed reviews. There doesn’t appear to be a hidden gem among them.
Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh, Swallow, The Burnt Orange Heresy, Sorry We Missed You, The Banker, Run This Town, Trautmann, Hope Gap, Extra Ordinary, First Cow, Bacurau, Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui, Escape From Pretoria, Only, Go Back to China, Hai shang chuan qi, Final Kill, Queen of Paradis, Annette Bening, Haley Bennett, Bill Nighy, Emily Ting, Anna Akana