Wednesday
19Nov2008
'The Soloist' Banished Yet Again
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 5:23PM
Everyone I know is confused by the new stepchild status
placed on
The Soloist by DreamWorks. There was a time,
some two months ago or so, when I watched the trailer and proclaimed that this
movie was made for Oscar contention. That's not to say it's great or anything,
but certain movies are crafted to be contenders, whether they really are or not.
This one had
Robert Downey Jr., and there's nobody hotter than him right now,
Jamie Foxx
playing a remarkable musician stricken with mental illness, a compelling true
story, and a great up-and-coming director in
Joe Wright.
But how would you explain the latest decision to move The Soloist again, this time to the week before the official opening date of summer? The obvious flashing red light you see is the impression that it's just not as good as everyone hoped. The film will now open April 24th, according to Variety, a real dead zone where a good movie can make some cash because there's nothing else before it that people want to see and it's so early in the summer there are really only a couple solid options.
Perhaps that's a good move, setting up an appointment with the audience to look for Robert Downey Jr. between Easter and Memorial Day; the following year, he'll kick off summer technically for the third year in a row with Iron Man 2. As it is, The Soloist will hit theaters amidst a blitz of advertising for possibly the biggest May in movie history. There are six potential $150 million movies opening that month, compared to three this past year. Seriously, between Wolverine, Trek, Terminator, Night at the Museum, Angels & Demons, and Up, you're looking at a billion dollars domestic.
Perhaps DreamWorks isn't burying The Soloist. Perhaps they're hoping it can catch on like Baby Mama did this year, coming out the week before the tentpole movies and being that non-blockbuster option in May. But it sure looks suspicious, doesn't it?
Reader Comments (5)
I thought the trailer looked amazing and I know that I would rather see this movie than some of the other junk that gets thrown our way!
Heh, like studios would know about movies...
I would go to see this movie tonight if I could......
This is dumb. This is so fucking dumb. Seriously. This was going to be one of the only good movies at the oscars and what did they do? Cockbiting fucktards.
I have been waiting for this movie to come out for almost a year now! It does look like an oscar award winning movie. But they keep backing it up and backing it up! I just don't see how it could possilbly be a bad film! I mean, come on! Robert Downey jr?! How could it it be bad with him in it? But that's just my personal opinion. He's a fantastic actor and absolutely delicious! Again...that's just my persional opinion.