Kristen Stewartās āOn the Roadā heading back to theaters
Even casual media consumers probably were aware of āOn the Road,ā Walter Sallesā adaptation of the Jack Kerouac novel starring Kristen Stewart, in December.
That month, Stewart appeared on numerous TV programs, including āThe Daily Showā and āThe Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,ā talking up her role in the film as the free spirit Marylou, while also touting the movie in appearances for āBreaking Dawn: Part 2.ā Garrett Hedlund, who plays Dean Moriarty in the Beat drama, was also a frequent media presence.
After āOn the Roadā grossed just $150,000 in a total of six theaters and the film failed to pick up much awards interest, distributor IFC decided to shelve plans to widen the film in mid-January.
But in an unconventional move, it will give āOn the Roadā another whirl. Beginning March 22, the movie will play on 150 screens, including several in cities, such as Chicago and San Francisco, where it never played. IFC will also make it available on VOD for the first time.
āWe were planning a pretty major expansion for January,ā Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Films, said in a phone interview Wednesday. āBut when you donāt get the awards attention that youāre hoping for, you have to be willing to change your plans.ā Sehring said he believes March offers a clearer runway, without the traffic of the holidaysā major awards titles.
Studios routinely try so-called āqualifying runsā in December before a wider release the following year. But those tend to be deliberately below-the-radar plays for one or two weeks designed to give the film awards eligibility, and usually seek to avoid extensive media and review attention that a distributor prefers to come later.
āOn the Road,ā on the other hand, received buckets of print and broadcast coverage in December, particularly in big markets like New York and Los Angeles, where it played, and was reviewed by many major outlets at the time. (At the moment it has a very modest 43% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.)
March is indeed a more open period for prestige titles; the month is populated with more commercially minded entertainment like āOz: The Great and Powerful,ā Sam Raimiās 3-D prequel of āThe Wizard of Oz,ā or āOlympus Has Fallen,ā the White House disaster epic starring Gerard Butler.
Still, in the rapid-fire news cycle of movie marketing, itās rare that a film can recapture interest several months after its initial push.
Hedlundās publicist said in an e-mail that the actor had done āso much press from Cannes onā that he would not be doing anything additional to promote the new release. Stewartās rep did not respond to a request for comment.
IFC will also have to contend with a competing title of sorts in āSpring Breakers,ā the Harmony Korine movie about a youthful vacation gone awry that opens on March 23 on about 500 screens. Featuring the likes of Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, it could play to many of Stewartās young fans.
Sehring, though, said he doesnāt see the two movies as competitive.
āThis is a movie that played Cannes and is directed by Walter Salles,ā he said. āI like Harmony Korine a lotāwe did a movie with himābut itās not exactly the same audience.ā
ALSO:
Cannes 2012: Kristen Stewart says Jack Kerouac changed her life
The Hudson and āOn the Roadā are finally in gear
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