Christmas Day is one of the biggest moviegoing days of the year. New holiday release always open by then, and often do so the Friday before. But not the day after.
“The Exorcist” opened on December 26, 1973.
Director William Friedkin, interviewed by Peter Biskind in 1996, was still angry about it, arguing that the studio’s release strategy hurt his film. But “The Exorcist” was a huge hit — it’s the ninth all-time highest domestic grossing sound film, adjusted for inflation — and second only to “Titanic” among Christmas period releases in the past 50 year.
But Friedkin apparently believes it could have been bigger.
Some context: “The Exorcist” was a blockbuster typical of its time, sharing some elements with “The Godfather,” which was released almost two years earlier. They were both based on bestselling novels. Neither cast had stars who could guarantee success. An R rating meant cutting off younger audiences and those who shunned more adult content.
“The Exorcist” opened on December 26, 1973.
Director William Friedkin, interviewed by Peter Biskind in 1996, was still angry about it, arguing that the studio’s release strategy hurt his film. But “The Exorcist” was a huge hit — it’s the ninth all-time highest domestic grossing sound film, adjusted for inflation — and second only to “Titanic” among Christmas period releases in the past 50 year.
But Friedkin apparently believes it could have been bigger.
Some context: “The Exorcist” was a blockbuster typical of its time, sharing some elements with “The Godfather,” which was released almost two years earlier. They were both based on bestselling novels. Neither cast had stars who could guarantee success. An R rating meant cutting off younger audiences and those who shunned more adult content.
- 12/30/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Frank Grillo, Keith David, Taryn Manning and Mark Boone Junior have joined the ensemble cast of “The Gateway.”
They join Shea Whigham, Olivia Munn, Bruce Dern and Zach Avery with Michele Civetta directing. Andrew Levitas is producing under his Metalwork Pictures banner alongside Stephen Israel.
The pic follows Parker, a downtrodden social worker in the grips of alcoholism, assigned to oversee care of the daughter of single mother, Dahlia, in this neo-noir thriller.
Grillo is fresh off the success of the acclaimed Netflix documentary series “Fight World,” an inside look at fight culture all over the globe that he produced and starred in as well as the brawl-thriller “Donnybrook” with Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley that opened the Toronto Film Festival. He has a slew of projects set to bow in 2019, starting with the Netflix project “Point Blank” followed by the thriller “Boss Level” opposite Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts,...
They join Shea Whigham, Olivia Munn, Bruce Dern and Zach Avery with Michele Civetta directing. Andrew Levitas is producing under his Metalwork Pictures banner alongside Stephen Israel.
The pic follows Parker, a downtrodden social worker in the grips of alcoholism, assigned to oversee care of the daughter of single mother, Dahlia, in this neo-noir thriller.
Grillo is fresh off the success of the acclaimed Netflix documentary series “Fight World,” an inside look at fight culture all over the globe that he produced and starred in as well as the brawl-thriller “Donnybrook” with Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley that opened the Toronto Film Festival. He has a slew of projects set to bow in 2019, starting with the Netflix project “Point Blank” followed by the thriller “Boss Level” opposite Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts,...
- 5/1/2019
- by Justin Kroll
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Deadline has learned that Olivia Munn has been cast as the female lead in writer/director Dean Craig’s romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Repeat.
The feature project centers on Jack who finds himself juggling brotherly duties to ensure his sister Hayley has the wedding of her dreams while unexpectedly being reunited with Dina (Munn), the woman he fell in love with- and lost- two years ago. But when fate lends a hand and the table seating is re-arranged, one small change drastically alters destiny and leads to disastrous and hilarious consequences.
Endeavor Content is handling worldwide sales. The film is a UK and Italian co-production that begins production on location in Rome on May 6. Craig is the co-creator of Audience Network’s half hour comedy series Hit the Road and wrote the 2007 Frank Oz comedy Death at a Funeral. Craig is repped by UTA and Thruline Entertainment.
Munn has...
The feature project centers on Jack who finds himself juggling brotherly duties to ensure his sister Hayley has the wedding of her dreams while unexpectedly being reunited with Dina (Munn), the woman he fell in love with- and lost- two years ago. But when fate lends a hand and the table seating is re-arranged, one small change drastically alters destiny and leads to disastrous and hilarious consequences.
Endeavor Content is handling worldwide sales. The film is a UK and Italian co-production that begins production on location in Rome on May 6. Craig is the co-creator of Audience Network’s half hour comedy series Hit the Road and wrote the 2007 Frank Oz comedy Death at a Funeral. Craig is repped by UTA and Thruline Entertainment.
Munn has...
- 4/18/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The leafy suburbs of Perth, Australia's western capital, are the setting for a lo-fi game of inter-dimensional cat and mouse in The Gateway, a cheapie from Aussie genre-meister John V. Soto (Needle, The Reckoning). The worlds visited all look drably identical, give or take some inclement weather, and the effects work is homespun, to put it mildly, but the whole thing plays mostly like a straight earth-bound thriller anyway, with a husband gone berserk and a family on the run. A nifty premise — a grieving widow brings a parallel-world version of her husband back to her own, with disastrous...
- 3/10/2018
- by Harry Windsor
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sneak Peek new footage, plus images from the upcoming science fiction feature "The Gateway" (aka "Alpha Gateway"), written and directed by John V. Soto, starring Jacqueline McKenzie, Myles Pollard and Shannon Berry, opening March 2018:
"...a 'particle physicist' grieving over the loss of her husband in a car crash travels to a parallel world to find him again, with dire consequences for her family..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Gateway"....
"...a 'particle physicist' grieving over the loss of her husband in a car crash travels to a parallel world to find him again, with dire consequences for her family..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Gateway"....
- 12/27/2017
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Principal photography has begun in Perth on John V. Soto.s (The Reckoning, Needle) latest sci-fi drama Love You Twice.
Jacqueline McKenzie (The Water Diviner, Deep Blue Sea, The 4400) stars as the lead, alongside Myles Pollard (Drift, The Turning), Hayley McElhinney (The Babadook), Shannon Berry (Hunters) and Ryan Panizza. Ben Mortley (Lantana) is a new addition to the cast and will play the role of .Regg., a scientist.
Soto is directing and co-wrote Love You Twice with author Michael White (Equinox, The Medici Secret). It follows a particle physicist (McKenzie) grieving over the loss of her husband who uses a revolutionary invention to bring him back, with dire consequences for their family.
Love You Twice is a Filmscope Entertainment and Convergence Productions film. Soto is producing with Deidre Kitcher, while executive producers are Malcolm and Kate Rudd, Coppelia Tingley, Pauline Chan and Gia Zhang RenJie.
The film has a...
Jacqueline McKenzie (The Water Diviner, Deep Blue Sea, The 4400) stars as the lead, alongside Myles Pollard (Drift, The Turning), Hayley McElhinney (The Babadook), Shannon Berry (Hunters) and Ryan Panizza. Ben Mortley (Lantana) is a new addition to the cast and will play the role of .Regg., a scientist.
Soto is directing and co-wrote Love You Twice with author Michael White (Equinox, The Medici Secret). It follows a particle physicist (McKenzie) grieving over the loss of her husband who uses a revolutionary invention to bring him back, with dire consequences for their family.
Love You Twice is a Filmscope Entertainment and Convergence Productions film. Soto is producing with Deidre Kitcher, while executive producers are Malcolm and Kate Rudd, Coppelia Tingley, Pauline Chan and Gia Zhang RenJie.
The film has a...
- 11/6/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
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