‘Cry Freedom’ Fares Poorly in Home Video

In the film and home-video business, a flood of media attention generally translates into increased business. But, thus far the banning of “Cry Freedom” in South Africa recently hasn’t generated much additional interest in the controversial movie in the American home-video market.

An informal survey of some of the nation’s home-video retailers indicates no increased demand for the movie. Still, according to Louis Feola, MCA Home Video’s senior marketing vice president, the company is considering reactivating its consumer campaign.

Released in the United States last fall, the anti-apartheid drama focuses on the friendship between black leader Steve Biko (Denzel Washington) and white newspaper editor Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) in the period before Biko’s death in 1977 while in police custody. Shortly after its South African premiere late last week, police confiscated the movie as a threat to public safety.

This long, expensive Universal Pictures production got a lukewarm reaction from critics, who claimed the movie focused too much on Woods and not enough on Biko. The North American box-office gross was a paltry $5.1 million. Generally a major movie that does that poorly at the box office won’t fare well in the home-video rental market either. Still, MCA Home Video had fairly high hopes for the movie when it was shipped to video stores in June.

But retailers weren’t that interested in it. “Sales to retailers were extremely disappointing, maybe half of what we expected,” said MCA Home Video’s Feola.

Nor were renters clamoring for the movie, which never got beyond the middle of the Billboard magazine rental Top 40. However, it has been popular in some areas. Harvey Dossick, director of movie purchasing for West Coast Video, a big chain, reported: “We’ve done well with it in certain stores. It wasn’t a monster hit, but it did rent OK.”

But news of the recent South African banning hasn’t piqued the interest of American renters. “There have been no letters or phone calls indicating there was going to be a run on this movie,” Dossick said. “I haven’t tried to order more. If there had been 20-30-50 phone calls from people about it, or a lot of people coming into our stores asking for it, I’d order more.”

Allan Caplan of the Midwestern Applause Applause chain, said there was no renewed interest from renters: “It was a small movie for us. We didn’t buy many rental copies in the first place.”

Ron Castell of the Erol’s chain in Washington echoed that report.

Said Peter Balner of Palmer Video, a 130-store Eastern chain: “There’s been no pickup in rental activity in our stores. Movies like this have limited appeal to renters. People are looking for entertainment, not something heavy like this.”

There are indications that “Cry Freedom” may do better in the foreign home video market--particularly Europe. First of all, according the MCA Home Video’s Feola, there’s been a dramatic acceleration of interest in the movie in the European theatrical market. Eventually that may translate into demand in the home-video rental market.

Steve Jarmus, vice president of the international division of MCA Home Entertainment, said the movie is only available on home video in Canada. He guessed it will make its home-video debut in Europe in December. The movie has been playing since March in most of Europe, where, Jarmus said, it hasn’t been a blockbuster.

“The biggest markets for it have been France and the U.K.,” he reported.

South Africans, Jarmus noted, are very eager to see the movie. Apparently, many of them will see it on pirated cassettes before they see it in theaters. “In South Africa, this banning is going to be great for the pirate videocassette market,” Jarmus said. “Who knows when it will be released on home video there. Meanwhile, the pirates will have a field day.”