This is NEVER a good sign. When a studio won’t screen it’s film for critics to see before it opens… it means even THEY know the film sucks and they just don’t want word to get out before opening day.
Here’s a little tid bit from Jam!Showbiz:
You won’t find reviews for either of this weekend’s major movie releases. Sony Pictures refused to screen its Tommy Lee Jones comedy Man of the House for critics. Alliance Atlantis wouldn’t preview its new Christina Ricci werewolf flick Cursed either.
Sony is following orders from Revolution Pictures which created Man of the House and Alliance Atlantis is heeding directives from Miramax’s Dimension Pictures. Revolution even screened its road trip comedy Are We There Yet? So, hard as it is to comprehend, the company must consider Man of the House far inferior.
Dimension’s Cursed has been a troubled project for almost two years. It’s been rewritten, reshot and re-edited so many times that director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson are distancing themselves from it. It started out to be an R-rated horror comedy in the vein of the Scream movies Craven and Williamson collaborated on. It’s now a PG-13 flick. Cursed cost Dimension $38 million plus a $25 million marketing campaign. It will be released on 3,000 screens.
When a studio refuses to screen a film for critics, it essentially reviews the film itself, admitting it’s a dog that needs one clear day before reviews and word-of-mouth start chipping away at audiences.
This is too bad. I actually thought Cursed looked like it MIGHT be at least a little interesting. Looks like even the director thinks I’m wrong.
