China’s Wanda Group Agrees To Pay $2.6B For AMC … 
Weinstein Clarifies ‘Sapphires’ Remarks; Best … 
How Agencies Did At This Year’s Upfronts: New … 
BOMBS AWAY! ‘Battleship’ Sinks To $25.3M … 
‘Lawless’ Premieres As The Weinstein Company … 
David Guarascio And Moses Port To Run … 
‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’ Co-Writer Lucy … 
Fox Searchlight Fetes ‘Beasts Of The Southern … 
D.V. DeVincentis Sinks Teeth Into ‘The Night … 
Universal Buys ‘The Disciple Program’ As Mark … 
‘Madagascar 3′ And A ‘Big Brother’ … 
UPDATE: Facebook’s Big IPO Trading Day Results In A … 
UPFRONTS 2012: The Year Of Underdogs, Comebacks & … 
YRF’s Uday Chopra To Finance Nicole Kidman-Starrer … 
Cannes Swirls With Talk Of Convergence Between Distributors … 
TNT & Lifetime Looking At Cancelled CBS Drama … 
Women Dominate Early Competition Films As Marion Cotillard … 
Doug Liman Reacts To ‘I Just Want My Pants … 
Disney Sets Jesse Wigutow To Script ‘Peter And The … 
Anthony Mackie In Step With ‘Runner Runner’ 
Should You Buy Facebook? A Few Things To Consider Before … 
With Lionsgate expanding and landing a $340 credit line, it’s easy for the studio to forget about its fanbase. Or is it? As I reported previously, horror aficionados are furious that Lionsgate’s Joe Drake is moving away from this genre of films in favor of more mainstream fare like Tyler Perry. (This month, Lionsgate signed hit factory Perry to a new 3-year first-look deal to distribute at least 3 more Perry films — after releasing 5 Perry pics since 2005.) Well, this weekend Lionsgate officially dumped Clive Barker’s Midnight Meat Train. And not just into a tiny 102 theaters but humiliatingly into the dollar and second run theaters where it made $32,000 ($313 per screen). Now fans are worried Lionsgate will do the same to other films they’re hotly anticipating, like Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Burrowers. All are ex-Lionsgate head Peter Block’s films, so Drake has a vested interest in making Block’s movies look bad at the box office even if he may be doing it for moral reasons. (I’ve long campaigned that execs should look inward before releasing “Hard R” horror films, especially those that feature torture porn.) As one horror fan asked me, “The question is, why does Lionsgate want the movie to make less money than it would normally in limited theaters? Something seems off.” The answer may well be studio politics.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
I’m sorry, are there people here actually suggesting that the purveyors of such high-brow films as WITLESS PROTECTION, THE EYE, BRATZ, and CAPTIVITY looked at MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN and stuck up their dainty noses because it didn’t meet their high standard of quality? Please. There was money to be made here and they purposefully positioned it in theaters where it couldn’t possibly make money, which is very suspicious. This stinks to high heaven.
All the smack talking on Joe Drake is silly.
Joe Drake built Mandate into a power-house production company, developing, producing and distributing titles with all of the big boys.
Drake has the difficult task of cleaning up the aimless slate that Lionsgate has had in the last couple of years (Bratz, Larry The Cable Guy anyone?)- the axing of Midnight Meat Train is a sign of good things to come.
There is no conflict of interest, there is no conspiracy, there is no agenda beyond strengthening the quality of Lionsgate’s slate.
This film is playing two L.A.-area engagements, in Norwalk and La Mirada. I went to one of them this weekend. I didn’t see a lot of fans turning out on Clive Barker’s behalf–there were six other people in the audience, and three of them looked like they’d snuck in from the Indian film playing next door. This film is terrible, plain and simple… and I say that as someone who likes the title, et al. Anyone who claims this is a good movie has had his head buried in Fangoria for too many years. Even if you like the buildup, it has a shitty ending that would send people screaming out of the theater with deadly word of mouth. Don’t think they didn’t test this thing before they decided to give it the contractually bare minimum run. And as for the idea that some piece of crap that tests horribly will still draw out gorehounds in reasonably numbers… I think the per-theater gross, even after this has been promised as the second coming on every horror site on the web, is indication of just how large and motivated the Barker fan base is.
“Inane” is how I describe the moron who suggested horror fans should “seek this movie out.” So I’m to leave New York City and drive to Philly (at current gas prices), where it MIGHT be playing, because it sure isn’t playing anywhere near NYC. How crap like “In the Valley of Elah” and “Redacted” (Political porn at its worst) can get wide release while something that would actually make a dollar (horror porn) languishes because two tribe members are feuding. God save the artist!
It’s interesting how people slamming the movie based on title and preview haven’t seen it. I have. I am not some horror fan that runs out and sees every horror movie that comes out — but I do like a GOOD one. This one is the best I’ve seen in a few years. It’s not a horror classic or a great movie by any means, but it gave me a lot of what I look for in a horror movie. First of all, it wasn’t completely predictable. Second, there was actual character development and the whole movie wasn’t exactly what you see on the surface. Third, there was some good over the top gorey horror, but this movie has overall less gore than in movies such as Saw or Final Destination. The gore is just part of the story not THE story. There was a decent crowd at the theater I was at… this movie probably would have at least broken even and made a little money if it had gone out first run. And the title serves its purpose. It tells you it’s going to be an over the top gorey horror movie.
“Since, as you admit, you’ve campaigned against hard R horror films, why complain now that Lionsgate is trying to take the company into a classier direction?
Talk about hypocracy…”
Actually, this would be called good journalism. Even though Nikki doesn’t like hard R rated horror, she’s still covering a story about Lionsgate dumping this much anticipated film. That’s called unbiased journalism.
I live in Rockford, IL, where it actually opened in my city (but as far as I can tell, not in Chicago which is 1.5 hours away). Yet there has been ZERO marketing for this film. I’m the most in-the-know person I know when it comes to movies, and I had no idea it was opening here until I got a call from a friend who happened to be at our local second-run theater seeing something else and saw it on the marquee.
The point is, for those of you pointing to its performance where it WAS playing, saying how even fans aren’t supporting it, I can tell you that’s because fans had no idea it was out. Further evidence this is nothing but a dump – It wasn’t even promoted in the areas where it played.
I have no problem with a studio expanding its slate, and I’ve always liked Lionsgate. They often picked up and released films that other studios didn’t have the balls to release for PC reasons. But don’t abandon the genre that made your company. Like an earlier poster said, we need more R-rated horror. I’m sick of PG-13 cash-grabs and bad Asian remakes.
sounds like there is some lionsgate plants among us!
Hey sweet, two LG execs just technically commented on the record!
Now could’ve this had been a bad managerial deiscion? It certainly sounds like one. For one thing Clive Barker has a lots of fans and to treat this horror film this way is a slap in thier face.
Question is now this. Why isn’t this film playing in the metromarkets: NYC,Los Angeles,Chicago? Well not to release it in such markets; is Lionsgate afraid of a backlash? Or a boxoffice flop? It certainly sounds like they’re afraid of one.
Even Variety gives positive review to this movie. So it looks like Lionsgate has made a dumb decision to dump this movie.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937873.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
I was able to find a screen showing MMT in Pittsburgh. It was at the MaxiSaver near Century III. I thought it was a really exceptional horror film. Best dollar I’ve spent on a movie in a long time. It was brutally dark, and yes, the ending wasn’t your typical happy Hollywood ending. That’s one of the things I felt made it exceptional. The ending even served to make a few of the happy coincidences that drove the narrative logical. It was cohesive and thought-out in a way few horror films are. The performances were by-and-large compelling, and by the end I was really engaged. It’s a shame it’ll never reach a wider audience. I see it as a success that 32,000 people went out of their way to find a screening, and set foot in the crummy places it was playing. No joke, the A/C was busted in my theater, and a third of the chairs were either taped off or missing.
Whoever that Ryan Rotten guy is, he certainly shows his ignorance with his blog weaving all kinds of conspiracy theories when the truth is simple- this movie was only ever going to appeal to a small number of horror fans.
Outside of the black horror t-shirt crowd, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find a moviegoer who wants to see a film where victims are referred to as “meat.” It’s like that “meat” campaign for “Hostel 2.” Mainstream folks aren’t necessarily interested in the kind of humorless, gore-obsessed horror that is represented by Kitamura’s film. “Strangers” is all about suspense and the threat of violence. “Midnight Meat Train” goes out of its way to fetishize the blood and guts with all of the filmmaker’s wacky camera tricks to capture the violence and splatter in unusual ways.
Celebrating gory stunts is fun for a certain audience, which I can appreciate, but that audience isn’t currently large enough to support a 1200 screen release. “Strangers,” which promised audiences scares, but no gore, is what that wider audience seemed to want.
The best thing about Rotten’s column is where he talks about the bonuses Lionsgate is trying to avoid if the movie makes money. As that threshold is probably around $35 or $40 million domestic which would then increase if it went past $60 and then $80 million, I don’t really think the studio would’ve minded paying those out if somehow the movie had managed to crawl to those levels.
Regardless of the anti-horror talk here, this is something that should infuriate movie fans. How would you feel if your awaited sci-fi, fantasy or indie flick gets dumped on dollar-theaters in such a way? As a horror fan (and filmmaker), I’m pissed. This makes me not want to work for LionsGate. This should make any self-respecting filmmaker not work for LionsGate. I know around here all the commenters care for is box-ffice, but just good box office doesn’t a great movie make. (And by the, Tyler Perry is a hack! regardless of what the studio-loving talking heads on this thread may say otherwise). This is a very dire time to be a horror fan. We’re labeled as ignorant movie fans who like violent trash.. we get awful PG-13 made by the studios.. and when a talented team of filmmakers like Kitamura and Barker finally get a movie made that might be worth a damn, it gets dumped like this. Peace out!
Christ. Horror fans need to get a life. There’s no conspiracy at play here – it’s business. Films get buried constantly and it’s usually because the studio doesn’t have faith that they will recoup the investment of a theatrical release. LG probably just realized that the losers drooling over this dog will see it on DVD the moment it’s released anyway – so why bother digging a hole at theatrical when Home Video is where a film like this will make THEM money.
I remember reading in an earlier DHD post that this films trailer tested higher than any other trailer in the history of Lionsgate. Even Variety’s review this morning was complimentary.
So anyone speculating on an article you call speculatory over a movie you haven’t seen – suck it.
Every time I remember that this is happening to Midnight Meat Train, et al, I grin, and do a little jig. Art and entertainment should elevate, not degrade humankind. This sort of horror is pointless, and I’m glad for its theatrical burial.
Are you talking about the Variety review by Rob Nelson who, upon seeing “JCVD,” declared “Van Damme is back!” So yes, one of Variety’s 12th stringers said nice things about the movie, but he also said some pretty specific things, too like “film’s not scary,” “before flying off the rails in the final curve,” “patently ridiculous final reel,” “Leon’s dark side goes underdeveloped,” “doesn’t track.” If you’re going to read it selectively, you have to look at it both ways.
Having seen the movie, I think the Fangoria.com review – http://www.fangoria.com/ghastly_review.php?id=7035 – is the best as it is incredibly even-handed, listing both the film’s strengths and weaknesses. When a lot of fanboys-turned-critics/filmmakers (as Horror 101 wanted to assure everyone on this board that he is) are all THUMB’S WAY UP or THIS THING SUXXZ about horror films, even for a dusty old print publication, Fangoria always seems to get it right as they’ve been doing this a lot longer than most and aren’t going crazy for every single new thing that splashes blood on the camera lens.
interesting to see the comments on the page about this – Harold had this right
anyone who understands how majors or mini-majors release movies will know that this film probably screen tested incredibly poorly and was on a “technical release”, essentially meaning the minimum number of screens that LG had to release on as per its contract with the producers and/or its TV output deals.
given the huge cost of prints, advertising materials etc it would have made zero financial sense for LG to go any wider with the film – no doubt they chose the theatres that have performed best historically for the genre (no doubt LG of all the distrbutors, would have the data to know which sites)
given how the economics work in distribution, i doubt LG would have intentionally sabotaged the film by dumping it into discount theatres if any sizeable audience could have been found for it in the first runs – as some of the posters here have stated, having a weak theatrical release (as opposed to no theatrical release at all) is only likely to harm what is LG’s real source of profit, DVD and TV sales
to summarise, they did the minimum they had to theatrically to qualify for future revenue from DVD and TV sales
Really, Crazyfox? I call BS on that. Would it have made a fortune? No. Would it have made more than, say, Lionsgate’s SEE NO EVIL? THE CONTENDERS? The loathsome CAPTIVITY? Or other modestly-performing genre product? Maybe. It’s one thing to put a film in limited release the way the Weinsteins dumped DIARY OF THE DEAD or ROGUE. It’s another to deliberately sabotage any sort of release. No Los Angeles venues. No San Francisco venues. No New York or Northeast venues. Not a one. You can say that they did this to cut their losses, but given the interest that genre fans showed in this material — and Barker’s fan-base — this was a deliberate spit in the face by Joe Drake.
Wasn’t there a beheading on a greyhound bus last week?
“Are you talking about the Variety review by Rob Nelson who, upon seeing “JCVD,” declared “Van Damme is back!” ”
LOL, thanks for bringing some rationality to all this fanboy ranting, and providing some perspective on the Variety review they all keep citing. I’m certainly not upset that at least one crappy gore-porn horror isn’t going to make it to a wide release.
Actually, of the few reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, this one by Brian Orndorf comes off the smartest:
http://www.brianorndorf.com/2008/08/film-review-the-midnight-meat-train.html
Like clockwork, the dismissal of this Clive Barker-inspired romp sent the gorehounds into a tizzy. However, now that “Train” is available to the masses (well, to the major cities), I wonder why horror buffs would spend so much energy trying to protect a film that’s pretty much similar to every recent genre production.
He’s right. I watched it this weekend and I couldn’t help be feel sorry for all the fanboys who are fighting Lionsgate on this one. What a terrible picture.
“When a lot of fanboys-turned-critics/filmmakers (as Horror 101 wanted to assure everyone on this board that he is) are all THUMB’S WAY UP or THIS THING SUXXZ about horror films”
This comment was to be expected. Typical internet anti-horror anonymous bull. I’m a critic turned filmmaker.. and say it so proudly (Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Goddard.. do those names ring a bell to you? Critic-turned filmmakers also). If it will mean that someday I might make a movie that will shut up the ignorant fools who have commented on this thread–the studio-loving, box-office, lame-o wannabe mainstream screenwriters/studio execs that dwell on this blog. So be it.
I’ve not seen ‘Midnight Meat Train’ because the studio took the chance away from a legion of fans who could have made up their minds about the film. Sure, the movie might be bad.. but its the general attitude that many of you display here that its truly disgusting–anti-creativity, rule-of-the-majority, mediocre-entertainment and anti-art.
Keep trashing horror. Go ahead. Those who comment against this movie on this thread deserve a horde of movies like ‘Meet Dave’ and ‘Swing Vote’ and the rest of the mediocre trash that Hollywood spoons feed every weekend… and you come back asking for more.