‘Polite society’, ‘The end of sex’, ‘The eight mountains’ open; Indie Takeaways from CinemaCon – Specialty Preview

Sundance Premiere from Focus Features polite society is launching on 927 screens, the feature film debut of writer/director Nida Manzoor, creator of We are LadyPartsthe Peacock comedy about the British punk rock band of the same name.

This comedic mix of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and daring action as martial artist-in-training Ria Khan tries to save her older sister from an impending marriage is 91% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Appointment overview here.

Joining them are a handful of other specialty titles making theatrical debuts from 900 to 1 screen, following a week of kindness on specialty and independent films at CinemaCon, the annual exhibitors’ conference. Focus chairman Peter Kujawksi described the professional audience as passionate and the market as a springboard for extraordinary talent and “unique and sublime stories”. There are no differences of opinion. He also said specialty stores “recovered better and faster” from Covid than the overall box office. Indie distributors in Las Vegas were far less optimistic.

Actually, the prevailing narrative is that the opposite is true. A variety of reasons, depending on who is talking, is too much or too little product; difficulty getting and staying on screens; limited marketing budgets and challenges in branding films to audiences; closures of art shops; theaters in need of upgrades; and moviegoers who are simply much more selective about what they will see given streaming options, which in some cases are reinforced by short cinema windows.

There are exceptions and the specialty market is definitely picking up.

Every studio executive who took the stage in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace this week welcomed the need for variety and breadth of content on the big screen. So does David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as Martin Scorsese, who asked multiplexes to give independent films more space. It is about the long-term survival of the industry. Budding directors – who may later go on to make blockbusters – are born by falling in love, like him, with original, challenging films on the big screen.

John Fithian, outgoing head of the National Association of Cinema Owners (NATO), and the organisation’s new head, Michael O’Leary, stressed the importance of increasing the focus on viewing “smaller films”. “It’s partly a market decision,” Fithian said. How do you ‘let people know these films are available’ and how do you prove to theaters that there is a market for them?” Any form of cooperation possible?

Everyone has a desire for India to gain momentum, O’Leary said, it’s just not clear “how best we can do that”.

One risk is a virtuous circle, said a Vegas-based indie distributor: The longer special films are considered hard sellers, the harder it is to get them onto screens, and so on. We’ll see how it goes at CinemaCon 2023. In the meantime, the movies just keep on coming.

polite society UK opening day and date with Universal Pictures International. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Olivier Kaempfer, John Pocock. With Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha, Akshay Khanna, Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri.

Other notable openings: Sean Garrity’s The end of sex by Blue Fox Entertainment debuts on 185 screens in North America (150 US). Feeling the pressures of parenthood and adulthood, a married couple sends their young children off to camp for the first time and embarks on a series of comedic sexual adventures to rekindle their relationship. Premiere at TIFF. Stars Emily Hampshire (Schott’s Creek), Jonas Chernick, Gray Powell, Lily Gao, Melanie Scrofano.

Opening of Sideshow & Janus Films The Eight Mountains at New York’s Angelika and Lincoln Center, expanded next weekend. Appointment overview here. Sideshow and Janus are teaming up with Cinecitta for the US release of Felix van Groeningen’s film about a decades-long friendship, which premiered at Cannes. With Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Lupo Barbiero, Cristiano Sassella. Based on the 2016 bestseller by Paolo Cognetti.

RMN. by IFC Films on two screens in NY (IFC Center) and LA (Laemmle Royal), extension on 5./5. Premiere in Cannes, Deadline Review here. Cristian Mungius (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days) Portrait of ethnic and economic grievances tearing apart the fabric of a small mountain town. With Judith State, Marin Grigore.

Abramorama presents Oliver Stones nuclear power now on four screens, jumping to 350 on May 1. Premieres in Venice. term evaluation. Based on the book A golden future by Joshua Goldstein. With unprecedented access to the nuclear industry in France, Russia and the United States, nuclear power now explore opportunities for the global community to overcome the challenges of climate change and fuel poverty to achieve a better future through the power of nuclear energy

The distributor (Abramorama) will also present 32 sounds, Sam Green’s Documentary and Sensory Experience (The weather underground) in the film forum. With original music by JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN). The film explores the power of sound to warp time, transcend boundaries and shape our perception of the world around us. It premiered at Sundance last year. At select screenings, viewers will be provided with headphones tailored for the film’s immersive audio experience.

VMI Releasing opens award winner Venice 2021 Freak vs The Empire by Gabriel Mainetti. The WWII fantasy thriller takes place in six markets in Rome. Four circus freaks are hunted by Nazis who want to use their powers. With Claudio Santamaria, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini, Giorgio Tirabassi, Max Mazzotta, Franz Rogowski, Sebastian Hulk and Anna Tenta.

Cinema Lorber presents TS Eliot’s Four Quartets, a theatrical adaptation of Ralph Fiennes’ stage performance of TS Eliot’s poetic masterpiece by the director and his sister Sophie Fiennes. In the early days of COVID, the actor took on the challenge of making a commitment Four quartets as a souvenir, and in 2021 he brought it to the London stage, followed by a tour of British theatres. Written by Nobel laureate Eliot in the shadow of World War II, the poem is a meditation on human experience, time and the divine. Opens this weekend at New York’s IFC Center with Sophie Fiennes there for a Q&A before expanding to select theaters across the country.