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Gravitas Ventures has made a deal with Viva Pictures that will allow A Matador’s Mistress to finally see the light of day, only not in darkened movie theaters. It’s a straight to VOD play for the Menno Meyjes-directed drama stars Adrien Brody as Spanish bullfighter Manolete, in a film that covers his late life love affair with actress Lupe Sino before he was gored to death in the bull ring. Penelope Cruz plays Sino, whose left wing politics turned their affair into a scandal in the early 1940s. Gravitas Ventures’ CEO Nolan A. Gallagher said that the film will be released this June through cable, telco and online, making it available to a potentially sizable audience.
Even though the film stars two Oscar winners, it never found any takers for a theatrical run. It was actually shot in 2005, four years before Cruz won her Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Back in the day when there was a vast number of small indie distributors, someone would have figured out a way to squeeze a buck out of theaters, but those days are gone. To Gravitas Ventures’ Gallagher, such opportunities now exist on VOD, with greater opportunities for titles with branded independent names like Brody and Cruz. “Film lovers will have the opportunity to appreciate the find performances of Adrien Brody and Penelope Cruz,” said Gallagher. “Video on Demand is increasingly allowing larger audiences the opportunity to enjoy wider access to well regarded independent films.”
Does a VOD model that makes films available to a wide pool of potential viewers but without the pre-awareness of a theatrical run with P&A mean much? It is hard to discern because most distributors don’t offer revenue figures as is the case with weekend box office. Gravitas Ventures is banking on it and has become an aggressive acquirer of festival films that aren’t drawing those theatrical distribution deals.
Here’s a teaser trailer for the film:
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If it was worth watching it would be in the theaters. VOD is not a viable economic model…yet.
What a myopic comment. What you’re implying is, “If everybody doesn’t want it, then nobody can have it.” Not every film can support a $25 million P&A budget. Some films are tent poles, others are tent stakes.
wrong. 25 million isn’t PA for a tent pole release. It is a minimum requirement for a serious release. This looks terrible anyway.
Do you realize you agreed with me?
the story itself is remarkable and with those two actors playing the leads, i would imagine the film is terrifc. i have no connection to it but had researched the story for a book. i’m just glad it will be available period.
Menno told me it was very good.
While this used to be the kiss of death for a film (Detox/Eye See You), I think this makes complete sense in today’s market. With the window shrinking between theatrical and DVD/VOD, the VOD-first route will actually work out better for these smaller films.
Marketing, marketing, marketing. That’s the key. They have to be able to economically publicize the film which might be a problem since the reason it’s VOD in the first place was trouble raising that kind of financing. If that hurdle can be overcome, their could be a whole market for uh, “high-brow, theater-quality, home video”
Look, it’s been 20 years since sex, lies and videotape and The Crying Game. The audience that appreciated those indie flicks will probably still do so if they’re available on TV. As they get up in years the convenience of ordering art-house fare on TV will grow on them. s
Welcome to the new distribution model.
Looking forward to seeing what looks like a very interesting story that I probably wouldn’t get to see in my local theaters.
That’s how I got to experience “Agora”. Loved it.
Why’d they change the title to “A Matador’s Mistress”? MANOLETE sounds so much better. The new one makes it sound like a cheap romance, whereas the actual bullfighter’s name sounds very macho.
Trailer looks good.
What happened to Adrien Brody? One moment he’s winning an Oscar, the next he’s serenading women in beer commercials. Is he on the Cuba Gooding Jr post-Oscar career track?
Seems like it. He’s SOOOO not an action star – so miscast in PREDATORS.
This actually looks good though – it’s too bad it couldn’t get a theatrical release on both him and Penelope’s names. A sad state of affairs in the industry.
Adrien Brody is the case of career gone wrong after winning an Oscar. He was great. What led him down this awful path we will never know.
Dog Speed.
This is the future. It will save Independent Film. Where are the Sundance Channel or IFC now to fill in a US domestic window and help with cash flowing production so an industry that has spawned some of our greatest writers and directors can flourish instead of languish.
This film was a problem from the get go. A bad script that floated around town for over a decade before being made with these two. At one time Bandaras was attached. But script was always dreadful and film turned out bad too. I love both Brody and Cruz – who looks gorgeous in the film BTW, but Brody is stiff and boring – like the film. Menno is a lousy director unfortunately, but the story was never well told on paper either.
I like Adrian Brodie, Penelope Cruz, bullfighting and Spain, so I enjoyed this movie. I am not sure that it would appeal to someone who was not a fan of most of those things.
I saw the movie; it was very decent a production; excellent photography, excellent acting; a bit weak in the story, but actually very decent…ahem, light years ahead in quality of any of the ‘Arnold’ films;…. amazing the likeness of Brody to the real ‘Manolete’; simply astounding, no one else could have played the part. Cruz did well; and the film is highly underrated; money, money, money, translates to marketing, marketing, marketing; no money, ah so what. We stll have Arnold and ‘Total Recall’.
I have just seen this movie and agree with thom Roman. It’s a pity that crap like Transformers and any of *the* Arnold movies ever see light of day when this film (weak in the pins, perhaps, but played, nevertheless, for all it’s worth) doesn’t get a theatrical release. If junk movies is all you give people, then junk movies are what they’ll crave and pay for. I almost didn’t rent this film, but I am so glad I did. Loved the cinematography and the music, especially. Brody and Cruz were *fine*. I’m going to check out more titles aren’t instantly recognizable when I go to rent a movie. So glad that this was made available.
Wow, this movie is bound to become a big hit among sophisticated movie buffs. I just saw the film, thanks to Netflix. It was a brilliant portrayal of torment with beautiful images, music and storytelling. Congratulations to Menno Meyjes!
Saddened by the fact that so many people will overlook or never get to see this lovely and extremely well directed film. The only issue I had with it is that both leads talk in such gentle tones. So much is missed. I had to hit rewind several times. Brodys performance is pitch-perfect. So innocent and tortured and conflicted. Cruze is a hot tamale and casting her was a perfect choice. Everyone should see this film.
My husband and I saw this film in the Redbox and rented it. We both fell asleep watching it. I am not proud of it, as we both enjoy watching all sorts of movies, and are always looking for independent films, and different proposals. Not sure what happened to this movie as it had everything to become a great one: the story itself, the actors, the music; however, I believe it lacks the passion that surrounds the bullfighting world. Even with several Spanish actors, the movie just did not transpire bullfights.
I agree. It nearly put me to sleep. I knew nothing of the story prior to watching, and I don’t think it told the story well of why their relationship was a scandal. I get that it was communist link during the 40s, but I wanted to know more about the push and pull of them personally. It got caught somewhere between being a love story and a glamorous look at bullfighting. I thought the bullfighting scenes fell completely flat. Very boring. I think the top comment that if this movie were any good, somebody would have picked it up. Penelope Cruz was famous and saleable before Vicky Christina Barcelona, so I think saying this movie was made before the win is just a cop out.
I thought this movie was lovely, as good a biopic as most. Both leads were excellent, though much of the dialogue was in whispers so it’s not surprising if it puts some people to sleep. I expect bullfighting is a tough topic to market these days with animal rights protests and all; perhaps that’s why it never got the exposure it should have. And the title sure doesn’t help.
For me an excellent movie that captures the beauty and spirit of bullfighting but I must admit it’s hard to hear the soft dialogue but the images convey the message.
Does Brody speak Spanish? He seemed to do so.