Lionsgate Leaves Horror Fans at the Station
Bradley Cooper in Midnight Meat Train
Back in June, horror fans Internet-wide got their Freddy Krueger underoos in a bunch over news that distributor Lionsgate Films was drastically scaling back the release of its upcoming R-rated horror film Midnight Meat Train, playing it on only 100 screens before a planned quick dump to DVD. Cinematical’s Scott Weinberg caught it at Comic-Con and called it “Easily the best Clive Barker adaptation since the first Hellraiser film,” and Barker himself appealed to Lionsgate to give the film a proper release. So, what gives?
MovieZeal’s Evan Derrick tipped me to an article by Grady Hendrix in today’s NY Sun that pins the abandonment on a changing of the guard at Lionsgate. In time-honored Hollywood tradition, new-guy Joe Drake unceremoniously jettisoned the projects of old-guy Peter Block. The Sun also points to Lionsgate’s recent shift away from genre fare like Saw and Hostel towards more mainstream product like the Tyler Perry films. With a new $340 million line of credit, it sounds like Lionsgate wants to be taken seriously.
Hendrix also claims, “R-rated horror movies regularly bomb at the box office and lightweight, PG-13 rated horror movies for teens gross buckets of cash.” I don’t know if that’s true and Hendrix doesn’t provide any evidence. In fact, a recent Nielson study detailed in The Hollywood Reporter suggested that R-rated comedies suffered box office limitations but that “horror films aren’t hurt at all.” Nielsen PreView spokesman Dan O’Toole is quoted in the article as saying, “When we looked at the data, PG-13 horror films appeal more to females and R-rated ones appeal to males, so there’s a purpose for both.”
Whatever the reasons for the shabby treatment of Midnight Meat Train, I really didn’t think too much about it because horror is not in my wheelhouse. I also assumed seeing it in LA would not be a problem, even with a very limited release, but it turns out that Drake didn’t just abandon the film; he buried it in an unmarked grave. The closest the film is playing to Los Angeles is La Mirada, 20-30 miles away.
Horror fans who want to see it closer to home will have one chance when the film plays a midnight show at The Nuart on August 15th. Otherwise, it’s next stop DVD for Midnight Meat Train.
[UPDATE: Shock Till You Drop's Ryan Rotten spoke to Lionsgate 'insiders' and learned that the distributor actually has an incentive for the film not to reach a certain level of box office. According to Rotten, "Even though they've made back any money spent on the production thanks to foreign sales, Lionsgate is still in danger of paying out fees if its domestic box office reaches a certain mark."]
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I still haven’t seen a trailer for this one (and knowing all this makes that less surprising) but I have to admit I’m not completely surprised. I hadn’t heard much about it beyond Craig’s mentions here and while the title does sorta stick in the craw, nothing else about it was grabbing me. It doesn’t have a well-known cast or star, Clive Barker isn’t as well known as he once was, and even the fanboy sites weren’t making much of a fuss over it.
From a purely business point-of-view looking at these superficial elements, it seems like a wise decision on Lionsgate’s part although honestly, I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to drum up some publicity for the DVD release by screening this in major cities. That part is very weird.
Bradley Cooper will always be Will Tippin to me.
Big Alias fan, K?
Haha, the first shot of Bradley Cooper in the trailer made me think, “Oh, it’s the guy from Alias.”
This flick looks fucking hilarious. I was wondering what happened to it after seeing the trailer in the cineplex early this year. All they needed was a cameo from Elvira, Mistress of the Night, to complete the package, because the title is every bit as epic as Snakes on a Plane. Then again, a great title didn’t really help that movie at the box office.
I mean, poor Clive Barker. I’m not the biggest horror fan, and I have to admit that this doesn’t look particularly amazing or anything, but to have your film shuttled off to $1 theaters to die a quick death…that’s just messed up. Talk about bending over and taking a big one.
From what I’ve heard from horror fans, it’s a solid flick. Not my cup of tea actually, but still. Sucks to be Barker.
I can’t imagine why a film called “Midnight Meat Train” wouldn’t get anything LESS than 2,500 screens. But then again I once backed a play called “My Dinner with Howard Cosell.”
It has a Snakes on a Plane quality to it, don’t you think?