Limited and Virtual Releases: Do Any New Releases Have a Ghost of a Chance?

July 16, 2020

The Grizzlies

It’s another slow week for limited releases and none of the films here will likely find an audience in theaters. Two of them do have a chance to find an audience on the home market, though. The Grizzlies is an award-winning Canadian film set in the far north, while The Painted Bird is a Czech war film that is likely too brutal to find a sizable audience. Hopefully both films can attract some moviegoers.

Highlights

The Grizzlies
A Canadian movie about a teacher moving to a northern town and bringing their biases with them. This film is earning a lot of critical praise and even took home several awards at film festivals and some Canadian guild awards. This is the kind of film that could have found a receptive audience in the art house circuit. However, with the pandemic actually accelerating in some places, there is no art house circuit to speak of. Maybe it will find an audience on the home market.

The Painted Bird
A black and white war movie that has earned incredible praise, including making the short list for last year’s Best International Film Oscar. However, it is also incredibly brutal and there were reports of many people walking out on the movie at several film festivals. Like The Grizzlies, it could have done well on the art house circuit, but its brutal nature means its chances of finding a mainstream audience were even smaller.

The Sunlit Night
Of the three films with enough buzz to make the main list, this is the one that had the most potential to find a mainstream audience. “Had” is the key word there, as its potential disappeared when its reviews started showing up. Its reviews are bad enough that it would sink its chances if it were a mindless action film opening during a prime weekend. There’s no chance a limited release opening during a pandemic will find an audience in theaters, or really on the home market.

Other Releases

Ghosts of War
Easy Does It
Kaye Ballard: The Show Goes On (Virtual Release)
My Brothers’ Crossing

Filed under: Limited Releases, Weekend Preview, Ghosts of War, The Grizzlies, Nabarvené ptáče, My Brothers’ Crossing, Kaye Ballard: The Show Goes On, The Sunlit Night, Easy Does It