New Theatrical Inventory Status • Pirates Take Aim At An Unsuspecting Source

It was another week of modest improvement for the New Theatrical landscape (it doesn’t take much to overcome the pandemic disaster of 2020-2022) with the latest arrivals now indicating a full-year output of new features films above the 500 level.   63 of those are forecast to be in the top two boxes (box office receipts of $100 million plus; $25 to $100 million).  

While 63 is still well below the pre-pandemic annual output (averaging 94), it is, nevertheless, a dramatic improvement over the 46 films delivered last year.

As for this past week’s action, Paramount’s Scream VI easily opened above the $25 million mark with first week numbers standing at $44.4 million, the directing team of Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle’s Jesus Revolution grew revenues to the $39.4 million mark, and Creed III now stands at $101.4 million.  All good news.

There were three transitional announcements this past week — Knock at the Cabin, 80 for Brady, and, in something of a surprise, Lionsgate Home Entertainment announced that Jesus Revolution would zip to the home entertainment package media marketplace in just 60 days with an Apr. 25 street-date for both DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions.

On the piracy front — driven by pristine masters provided by the multitude of streaming platforms — both Cocaine Bear and Knock at the Cabin saw early release activity (non-sanctioned) on Blu-ray this past week.

 

Before moving on, here’s one for you.  

What is it about Hallmark and Lifetime movies that tend to drive people crazy?   Come on, you know the answer, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the sappy content.    The endless commercial breaks … an 84-minute cookie-cutter romance is easily stretched into a two-hour time slot.

Make no mistake, there is a huge following for these movies.   With that in mind, one enterprising “vendor” (using the Etsy platform — an unchecked flea market circus of piracy these days) stuck their toe in the water last October by taking the most recent Hallmark movie broadcast and editing out all of the commercials and then offering it within hours as a DVD release. 

OK.   A couple of weeks slipped by and then this source (which we suspect is a long-time player operating under other names out of Las Vegas) offered a second one in mid-November.   Two more at the end of that month.   Five in December.   Twenty-six in January (do you see where this going?).  Lifetime was added to the mix and a whopping 75 films from these two television sources (and other random movies in the same category) hit the illicit marketplace during the month of February.

We are only two street-date Tuesdays into the month of March and already 91 new selections have been shipped to eager RomCom fans.   Including, for the first time, a Netflix release, writer/director Aline Brosh McKenna’s Your Place or Mine, starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher (which began streaming on Feb. 10 and has already been pirated by multiple sources).

While the focus of this area each week is trends in the New Theatrical marketplace, it is worthy to take note of what else is going on out there with similar extracurricular release patterns.

 

 

Writer/Director Dionne Copeland's Cold Wind Blowing From Bayview Entertainment On Apr. 25

Bayview Entertainment has selected Apr. 25 as the Blu-ray debut date for writer/director Dionne Copeland’s curve-ball horror offering, Cold Wind Blowing.

Some horror films, with all of the classic elements — victim pool, haunted house, fiendish killer(s) and a final girl — come right at you.   From the get-go there is no doubt as to where you are going.   Does a title like Texas Chainsaw Massacre leave any doubts?

While a film titled Cold Wind Blowing suggests pretty much the same thing, the film doesn’t exactly start off that way.  Nomi Fox (Angela Way — Lotus-eaters, Miles Away) and her brother, Thomas (Cameron Peterson), are the products of a broken family; children of divorce.   Periodically the pressure mounts (guilt, whatever) and they need a break.

Perfect, Christmas break and so they borrow their uncle’s cabin — deep in the woods — and invite their friends along for a holiday getaway.   A time to vent; a time to let things go. 

In the first act we meet the friends, get the backstory and motivation and it looks like this could be some sort of claustrophobic psycho-drama at an isolated cabin in the woods.   The only hint that the “cold wind” is really a clue to horror — and not woe-is-me angst drama — is the stop at a general store for supplies on the way to their destination.   The guy working there tells the group of some strange things going on.

They settle and Nomi tells Thomas that it would be nice to have a Christmas tree to brighten things up.   So off they go, into the spooky woods — cold, snowy, spooky woods at that — to find the perfect tree.   Out there, something evil lurks and Thomas is the first victim.

They call for help, as victim pools often do, but the help doesn’t arrive (the evil that lurks out there in the woods takes care of that).   Stranded, Nomi and her friends are now at the mercy of … “The Wolf.”

Who lives, who dies … and will Nomi be the final girl.

Cold Wind Blowing this coming Apr. 25 on Blu-ray from Bayview Entertainment to find out the answers.

Bonus goodies include deleted scenes, a making of featurette and short films from filmmaker Dionne Copland.

 

 

 

Mill Creek Entertainment Celebrates The 20th Anniversary Of Director Jane Campion's In The Cut • Starring Meg Ryan • On May 16 With A Blu-ray Release

Mill Creek Entertainment announced this past week that writer/director Jane Campion’s 2003 sexually-charged murder mystery, In the Cut, will be getting a 20^th Anniversary Blu-ray edition release on May 16.

Meg Ryan made a bold career move when Oscar-winning director Jane Campion offered her the role of Frannie Avery in a film that Campion had written and spent on the order of five years trying to get it into production.   Nicole Kidman was originally cast, but for personal reasons she had to drop out.

Instead of playing in another romantic comedy, her role as Frannie is anything but that.  She is a sexually-repressed New York City English teacher and would-be writer, who gets caught up in a serial killing mystery when a hacked-up body ends up in her courtyard.

On the case is detective Giovanni Malloy (Mark Ruffalo), who goes beyond the call of duty by having an affair with Frannie.   Things get complicated when, through a series of events, she begins to suspect that he might actually be the serial killer.

And, speaking of complicated, one of her students, John Graham (played by Kevin Bacon, who did not receive screen credit), is doing a project on serial killer John Wayne Gacy and is giving off some pretty creepy vibes.   Could he be the killer?

It was a tough, demanding role for Meg Ryan.   She has naked scenes (no body doubles), is beaten, hit by a cab and sexually assaulted on a dark and rainy night … and is covered with blood in the film’s finale!!  

Lots of twists … who is the killer?   And does Frannie survive?  Is that her blood?

 

 

 

Dark Force Entertainment Preps 4K Ultra HD Edition Of Writer/Director Byron Quisenberry's Scream For A June 13 Release

Before there was the billion-dollar Scream film franchise, there was writer/director Bryon Quisenberry’s 1983 horror entry, Scream, which has all the classic genre elements firmly in place (save one).

Although filmed on a micro budget in May of 1980, with Lake Piru and the old Paramount Ranch in Southern California doubling for the Rio Grande and a long-since abandoned ghost town, Quisenberry was finally able to finish the film in post-production and get it into theatres on a regional basis beginning in early November of 1983 (bicycling what prints he had).  Where, and these things are always a tad sketchy, it appears that Scream actually made money.

In any case, Dark Force Entertainment, LLC, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K Ultra HD edition — restored from the original 16mm camera negative — lined up for delivery on June 13.

As for the film itself, it has the requisite victim pool, in this case a dozen campers on a rafting trip, with two guides and, later, two dirt bikers, the “haunted house” (which can take many forms) — in this case an entire ghost town — and a mysterious (unseen) killer, but sadly, there is no final girl … multiple "girls" actually survive the slaughter.

There’s one other twist, after seven of the campers — all male — are slaughtered, a mysterious “ghostly” good-guy figure, Charlie Winters (played by Woody Strode) appears, fills in the backstory and manages to kill the malevolent being (also a ghost) before any more campers can be murdered.

Over the years, despite its shortcomings, Scream has managed to build something of a cult following.   Now a 4K Ultra HD edition … bring it on!!

Bonus features appear to be limited to commentary with Quisenberry, which is moderated by Comedy Central’s “The Movie Geek,” Marc Edward Hueck and William Olsen.

 

 

 

 

88 Films Releaes The Four Disc Blu-ray Collection Of In The Line Of Duty I-IV For Release On May 16

88 Films Ltd, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be taking full advantage of the Michelle Yeoh Oscar-win for Best Actress (Everything Everywhere All at Once) this coming May 16 with the launch of a four-film/four-disc Blu-ray collection titled In the Line of Duty I-IV.

The first two films in the series, Royal Warriors and Yes, Madam!, both star Michelle Yeo as a Hong Kong police inspector who gets involved with organized crime elements and has to use all of her fighting skills — and those of her allies — to win the day.   None-stop martial arts action … and Michelle Yeo, need we say more?

Filmed early in her career and virtually unseen in the domestic market for years, these two films would nevertheless pave the way for such future entries as Supercop, Supercop 2, The Heroic Trio, Tomorrow Never Dies and of course, as Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000.

Both of these Michelle Yeo entries in the series can be viewed with the original Cantonese language tracks (with English subtitles) or with their respective English language audio tracks.   Both entries also include commentary options and vintage video sessions.

The next two films in the series, In the Line of Duty III and In the Line of Duty IV, showcase the martial arts talents of Cynthia Kahn.   And, as with the Michelle Yeo entries, both can be viewed with the original Cantonese language tracks (with English subtitles) or as English-dubbed versions.

Both of the Cynthia Kahn films also feature commentary options and vintage video sessions.

 

 

 

 

Paramount Home Entertainment Selects May 2 For The Release Of Director Kyle Marvin's 80 For Brady

Director Kyle Marvin’s sports comedy, 80 for Brady, starring the most unlikely of football fans — Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno and Lily Tomlin — will be making the transition from theatrical venues to the home entertainment marketplace on May 2.

Paramount Home Entertainment will be shipping out both DVD and Blu-ray editions on that date.   The ARR works out to 88 days, with domestic box office receipts coming in at $39.1 million.

Bonus goodies include extended and deleted scenes, the music video titled “Gonna Be You,” as well as four featurettes — “The Game Plan: Making 80 for Brady,” “The GOATs: Jane, Lily, Rita & Sally,” “The Visiting Team: Meet the Supporting Cast” and “The Largest Comeback in Super Bowl History.”

 

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Looks To May 9 For The Home Entertainment Packaged Media Launch Of M. Night Shyamalan's Knock At The Cabin

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has selected May 9 as the street date for a full spread of home entertainment packaged media selections of director M. Night Shyamalan's latest, Knock at the Cabin.

The ARR comes in at a reasonable 95 days (perhaps a change is in the wind) and domestic box office results were $35.4 million.

There will be Combo Pack editions available for both the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) formats, plus a stand-alone DVD edition.

Bonuses include four deleted scenes, the “Chowblaster” infomercial and a quartet of featurettes — “Choosing Wisely: Behind the Scenes of Knock at the Cabin,” “Tools of the Apocalypse,” “Drawing a Picture” and “Kristen Cui Shines a Light.”