Celebrity Relationships Now Deciding Film Release Dates?
Hudgens movie scared away by Efron's
This is one of the wildest things I have ever read in an official statement from a studio in relation to a decision being made for one of their films. In a posting on Facebook, CBS Films has announced the delay of their upcoming feature Beastly starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, but that isn't as interesting as the reasoning:
Beastly fans-You guys are awesome-so we wanted to make sure you were the first to hear the official news, Beastly is moving off of July 30th. We've been hearing from fans, so we know that having both Zac and Vanessa's movies opening on the same day could be a real dilemma for people, so we are moving Beastly. We'll keep you posted on all the latest, so keep checking back here for all things Beastly.
The Zac Efron movie they are referring to is Charlie St. Cloud from Universal Pictures, which will apparently retain its release date despite the fact Efron and Hudgeons have been long-time boyfriend-girlfriend. If you didn't think Beastly looked like a CW melodrama before, they are sure painting it to be one now and the fans are none-too-happy.
Writing in the comments on the Facebook post fans have called the announcement "completely inappropriate and unprofessional" and said it shows CBS Films has a "lack of faith in Beastly." Lack of faith indeed. This makes it look like CBS Films doesn't think anyone other than Hudgens/Efron fans are going to turn out for Beastly. This also seems to insinuate they think all the Hudgens fans will be at St. Cloud giving Beastly absolutely nothing to gain from a July 30 release. Yeah, that certainly seems like a major lack of confidence and a very bad sign for the film overall. Perhaps just tossing it on DVD is the only way to go at this point.
I first read about the news on ComingSoon, which speculates a January release based on the January 4 scheduling of the soundtrack, but there is no official announcement as to when the film will officially see the light of day.
CBS Films has not exactly gotten off to a stellar start with their 2010 release slate, which began with Extraordinary Measures in January managing only $12 million in its box-office run. Strangely, despite awful reviews, Jennifer Lopez's The Back-Up Plan has managed $35 million at the box-office, though with theater-studio splits in consideration it will still need some decent DVD sales to end up in the black with a $35 million budget.
Beastly has gained a decent amount of online interest as evidenced each time new bits of information come out the movie finds its way into the most previewed here on RopeofSilicon, but I'm not sure if there is much of a crossover outside the Hudgens fanbase. Unfortunately, Hudgens's 2009 feature, Bandslam, was mishandled by Summit, which means its $5.2 million at the box-office doesn't give us a clear idea how one of her films will do in the marketplace.
As for Charlie St. Cloud, it should do decent numbers if 17 Again is any indicator how a Zac Efron led feature can do at the box-office with a decent release and amount of marketing. I have included the trailer for Charlie St. Cloud directly below.
Links from Other Sites You May Like
Showing 18 Comments
~ PLEASE NOTE ~
If, in any way, your comment is an attack on the author of this post or a previous commenter, your comment will be deleted without question.
Add a New Comment |
Click to Read Our Commenting Rules & Guidelines
Both of those movies look abysmal, but at least Efron is branching out and trying to show some dramatic acting chops. I have a feeling he's going to be around for a long time, and will be one of the premier movie stars for years to come.
I see his career path more closely following Tom Cruise or John Cusack than say… Johnothan Taylor Thomas or Ralph Macchio. He's definitely going to outlast the likes of Taylor Lautner.
Really? Is there much quality acting going on in what looks like a Sparks movie?
Beastly does not look terrible, but CBS certainly does.
I obviously haven't seen the movie so I can't speak for the quality of the acting in the film. All I said is that he's "trying" to expand on what we usually see from him.
Trust me, I view Sparks movies as the same sappy romantic garbage as everyone else. They're basically the female equivalent of porn. That being said, some of them are very well made and acted. For example, I just watched "Dear John" over the weekend. For all its faults, it was nicely shot and Seyfried and Jenkins both turned in very solid performances.
I'll see beastly for nph
I don't see the appeal for efron and hudgens bores me to deat
And the thing with the release is so stupid
Charlie St. Cloud is going to be a really good film, if it is anything like the novel. Ben Sherwood is a really good author, and this book, in addition to "The Man Who Ate The 747" are really very entertaining and enjoyable. It is nothing like a Sparks movie, I can promise you that. Maybe you guys should read the book.
I agree the book by Ben Sherwood is really good, he's very talented and very unlike Nicholas Sparks. Unfortunately, Mr. Sherwood didn't write the screenplay for the film. I'm not sure how much involvement he had with the final product other than selling the story rights.
The film's director, Burr Steers, wrote the screenplay, so how faithful it is to the original story and Sherwood's emotion and complexity remains a mystery. I don't know how good the final cut is going to be either since the studio ordered substantial re-shoots on the film that just finished last Friday. They don't even have a finished cut of the film yet, and they have less than 2 months to finish it.
I don't know what Beastly is going to be like overall. It's hard to get a read based on that stupid trailer. The people who've seen the film have given a response that indicates the trailer is not at all indicative of the film's quality.
People invited to test screenings have posted about how surprising and good the film is. The articles of media sites and journalists who visited onset gave the production and even more surprising VHudgens really good reviews. It surprised and wowed the big theater heads at ShoWest in March and an article from then wondered why CBS didn't release Beastly first given that response.
IMO, Daniel Barnz is such a fantastic, promising director–his visuals are stunning, so it's difficult for me to imagine the actual film stinking as badly as the trailer makes it seem. Plus, it has NPH.
On imdb, the screenplay writing credits for Charlie St. Cloud go to Craig Pearce and Lewis Colick, not to Burr Steers. Ben Sherwood is credited as an executive producer. Let's hope that he had a lot of involvement. From the trailer, I can already see some differences, but those aren't enough to take away from the original story. Of course, how true to the book the film is remains to be seen. Let's hope that the stuck pretty close.
Thank you, Chloe. I totally agree. I have a friend with a director husband, who says there is no excitement whatsoever for CSC. If you look at stills of each movie, Beastly and it's actors are completely within their sets and feel a part of it. In CSC, the actors are focused on, with blurry backgrounds….cheesy at best, and very much like a Lifetime movie. Daniel Barnz has done an amazing job with Beastly; Burr Steers had the most mistakes in a movie in 17 Again of all movies released that year. No comparison in directors either. CBS is just going to move Beastly back a few weeks; that is my guess. I have no idea what everyone is making such a big deal of.
I feel like the official statement was written by a 15 year old school girl. CBS should have just moved the movie and the said the date would be coming at a later date. But someone was dumb enough to post the Zac / Vanessa /HSM fan relationship as a reason to move dates. It is being run by a bunch of idiots who it seems have no idea how to deal with things in a professional manner. Beastly had been getting positive buzz at Showest and Theatre Exhibitors were impressed with the footage they saw according to reports but CBS seem to want to destroy all the good work they have been doing.
The announcement CBSFilms gave was just amateur hour. No one other than high-up studio execs have the power to change release dates. To say a few complaining fans (who may or may not even be fans of either Efron or Hudges) and an actor's private relationship is the reason for the change is just bush league. Makes CBS appear as if they're afraid of their own shadow.
And, the trailer for the film is horrible, it looks like it's an ad for a CW teen drama or a Lifetime MOTW rather than a feature film. Then again CBS has been struggling with that feel for their trailers all along.
I have been working in this industry 30 years and I and most of my colleagues think the St. Cloud trailer looks like a Hallmark Weekly TV movie. It was shot like a TV movie.
At least Beastly's canvas has depth and clarity.
Also though Bandslam failed at the box office the reviews were quite positive. 17 Again made money but was not a critical favorite.
THANK YOU, thank you!!! SOmeone with smarts around here!!
This comment has to be a joke.
If anything Beastly is the one that looks like a TV movie. CBS Films has had a lot of problems with that.
Charlie St Cloud looks like a typical melodrama in the vein of Nicholas Sparks but the production values are through the roof compared to Beastly.
Your insinuations are absolutely ridiculous. WHere do you get this crap from? The date change has NOTHING to do with no confidence in Beastly. Beastly has gotten HUGE buzz, looks artistically and visually amazing, the stars have already received awards at ShoWest for their performances, and have Vanessa, Neil Patrick Harris, MK Olsen, and Alex Pettyfer fans lined up WAITING!!! Charlie St. Cloud is the one that looks like a Hallmark movie. Zac is the ONLY reason to see that ghost-whispering weepy. It looks terrible. It looks sappy beyond belief, and even the acting looks bad. Also that statement on the FB Beastly site, does NOT mention a relationship….just that fans may want to see both movies. You people are such drama queens. UGH…I hate tabloids and the crap you write.
Why was Beastly the one they decided to move then?
Well, I guess that each of us is entitled to our own opinion. As for me, I don't think that the CSC trailer looks cheesy or Hallmarky or anything like that. I think that it looks quite interesting and am looking forward to seeing it.
Darren:
You clearly don't know what you are talking about. Beastly released what amounted to the trailer teaser and then released the trailer. At Showest everyone was talking about the production work on Beastly and I guess you have not seen the poster that changes with its shadows and light nuances. CSC's poster looks like a caritature. And every single shot in the movies it appears are the actors in the foreground with a blurry bacground which is how most TV movies are shot. Beastly was shot in a multiple camera angle format with full foreground and background lighting and it costs a fortune to do. CSC is a single camera format (like most TV movies) rendering the movie a flat look instead of depth and breath.
Efron's teen base will go to CSC whether it is any good or not. All they are looking for is an abs parade. He could act like Olivier and they won't notice.
Further Universal moved CSC to Beastly date to try to get some of the publicity Beastly had already racked up and possibly to give the impression the movie is stronger than it is.
Is you have a good movie you want it to open with as little competition as possible ergo Beastly moved.
It is really a waste of time to argue with those of us who have been in production here in Hollywood all these years.
Stop fanboying over Efron and learn something.
Thanks again. I get so sick of the fangirls who think anything Zac Efron does is such "high quality". CSC is not, nor was 17 Again. Funny, it was the same director. CSC does look TV-like, and you described it perfectly. A friend of mine, whose husband is a producer, said EXACTLY the same thing. In Beastly, the characters are within the set and scene; in CSC, the actors are not. The poster for CSC is awful as well, while Beastly's is very artistic and symbolic. I just think there's NO comparison at this point. But like you said, CSC is AGAIN going to be an "abs" parade and little teens wanting to see Zac make out and have sex. They could care less whether the movie is actually good.