Ask Warner Bros. what's up w/Good Night, And Good Luck release:

[cyberpj]

I'm getting tired of waiting so I sent this email. Don't know if I'm guessing correctly or not but I'd like to know what's up.

[e-mail]

Why are we seeing so many ads on television for a film which has not been released to theater chains?

When my friends and I check your site, we don't even see any future date that your film will be coming to our area.

Either you're holding back for some reason or you're getting flack from corporate theater owners and/or your own corporate headquarters (now that they know what the film is about and how it makes the Bush administration look). If it's the latter, that will eventually come out and it will bring the film even more attention.

Stop teasing viewers and/or release the film!

xxxxxxxxx

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks, cyberpj, I dropped them a line as well. nt

[leveymg]

2. There were also serious problems with the release of F-9/11.

I recall Roger Moore had to buy back the distribution rights from the studio and re-release through Lions Gate.

Could be the same old tried RW censorship. If so, I hope the Producers sue their asses and end up owning the freaking studio!

[Touchdown]

9. You mean MIchael Moore?

Roger Moore was James Bond #3.;)

[leveymg]

19. My bad.

Next beer on me. :toast:

[hwmnbn]

3. They staggered the release nationally....

http://wip.warnerbros.com/goodnightgoodluck/

OCTOBER 7, 2005
Boston
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
Washington D.C.

OCTOBER 14, 2005
Atlanta
Baltimore
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Ft. Lauderdale
Houston
Miami
Minneapolis
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland
Seattle
West Palm Beach

OCTOBER 21, 2005
Albuquerque
Anchorage
Austin
Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Fresno
Ft. Meyers
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Monterey
Orlando
Pittsburgh
Reno
Sacramento
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
Santa Barbara
St. Louis
Tallahassee

OCTOBER 28, 2005
Montreal
Nashville
Toronto
Tucson
Vancouver

NOVEMBER 4, 2005
Opening in additional markets

I've had to wait until this friday.

[cyberpj]

11. I saw that too. Still, I didn't see it come to Philly when they said so..

I know there are logical reasons for this. Just wanted to be sure.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. This used to happen with movies that they believed were going to be great

successes. They released them to limited amounts of theaters in major cities for exclusing openings. After a few weeks to a month, they were then distributed to local theaters.

When I was a teenager, I used to have to go into NYC in order to see the better films when they first opened. Many of those films later became Oscar nominees.

[eggman67]

6. You got it

They're shooting for Oscar. By staggering the release it keeps the buzz up. Luckily for me I'm in Philadelphia :)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. lol! I am now in the far end of the suburban area of NYC now, and I

really don't want to spend over an hour commuting into the city. I'll wait until it shows here. I am looking forward to seeing it, but anticpation is sweet too.

[cyberpj]

12. Hey! I'm in NCC, Delaware and was watching for Philly. Did I miss it?

Man................

[eggman67]

21. It's at the Ritz in Center City Philly

Ritz Theatres Ritz Five
(Independent) 214 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, 215-925-7900
Showtimes: 4:50pm | 6:15 | 8:30 | 10:00

[cyberpj]

24. D'oh!

That would be THE place to look for it wouldn't it?

Guess it's time to read a paper instead of internet movie search sites once in a while.

[onenote]

5. chill -- its not a conspiracy

Its a staggered release, not a conspiracy. Happens with a lot of films, particularly those that are quasi independent (its being distributed by an arm of Warner (Warner Independent). You should check out the film's website. It has a link where viewers are encouraged to donate money to the aclu and other organizations.

Here's a comment from an industry source about staggered releases this fall:

"There is a sense of relief among adult moviegoers out there, who have been desperate for some good stories to hit screens. It's the time of year when awards contenders are also released," adds Gray, who sees Oscar potential for several titles, including Sam Mendes's Jarhead (with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx), Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (Gyllenhaal, again, with Heath Ledger), Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha (with Ziyi Zhang), Steven Spielberg's Munich (Eric Bana), Terrence Malick's The New World (Colin Farrell as the English explorer John Smith) and James Mangold's Walk the Line (a biopic with Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash).

"There's a lot of Oscar bait out there, and movies that will appeal to critics," predicts Gray. "But they're all having staggered releases, which means none are going wide out of the gate."

onenote

[cyberpj]

15. I assumed it was to create Oscar buzz - but I also wonder about pirating

I have friends that manage to get new films the same day they appear in the multiplexes --- I wonder if limited openings are a test to see if it cuts back on pirating as well.

Just a thought.

[themaguffin]

7. it's limited release now

I saw it last weekend. I hope that it takes off, but given it's an "indy" movie shot in B&W, who knows. I hope that the critical acclaim and Clooney's name draw people in because it's worth seeing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. waiting fer it to show up locally

and welcome to DU

[Marnieworld]

20. film geek note

I saw a Clooney interview where he said it was shot on color stock because black and white stock is so expensive and the lighting necessary for B/W was also a deterrent. After it was cut the it was then transfered to B/W stock.

Posted for the 2 or less people out there who would care.

;-)

[cyberpj]

25. Cool. I heard they wanted to "starken" the black and white

to accentuate the mentality of the times.

[Touchdown]

8. This isn't Batman14. It's an indepenent film.

It's marketed under the label WI (Warner independent films). It was meant, and is being distributed by the WI label to independent theaters, and art houses.

There are 3 forms of film releases.
*Major Release- Star Wars, X-Men, Birdcage, Ocean's 11, James Bond etc. Across country 2000+ screens.
*Smaller release- A Room with a View, Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream, most foreign films, etc. Which are released to independent art house theaters.
*Limited Release, which Good Night and Good Luck is among them. Same as smaller release, but in limited cities for the first 2 weeks to month of release. Unless it turns into a major success, like March of the Penguins or My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it will never see the corporate multiplexes.

I don't see any political nefariousness going on here.

[0rganism]

16. I saw GN&GL at a corporate multiplex on Sunday

Of course, the corporate multiplexes in Portland have to give some lip-service to the liberal flicks.

Anyway, it was showing on two screens at this multiplex, and tickets were selling out two shows in advance. Very popular with seniors, there were lots of folks in the audience who might well have seen the original broadcasts on which the film is based.

[blm]

14. It's AOL-TIME-Warner....that's why. Steve Case is a Bush flunkie and

the Saudis own a big chunk of it. That's why CNN would never do their job before the 2004 election.

[momisold]

17. It's in Houston

but at the indy theatre. Sometimes they release to indy theatres first and see how it goes, get word of mouth going, etc.., and then go back to the major theatres.

[cry baby]

18. It won't open in Nashville until Oct. 28th!!!!!

jeeeeez...

[kohodog]

22. It's comint to the indy theater in my town Friday (CT) n/t

Yea!

[wndycty]

23. Its call a platform release and is often used with films of this caliber

From 1990-1996 I worked as a studio publicist so I have experience with this release strategy. What Warner Brothers Independent Pictures is doing is very common, its called a platform release and many critically acclaimed films use this (Schindlers List for example). The thinking is that the movie has great potential however its not going to have a blockbuster opening weekend, so you open it in selected markets in very few theaters to build up a buzz.

You should also understand that with this being Warner Brothers Indepenent Pictures they are use a different group of marketing people, people who specialize in arts films and the strategy is much different.