2013: this is just too sad for words. From Band of Thebes comes news that not one, but two new gay films with huge Hollywood stars failed to get funding for theatrical releases. HBO picked up both of them, but as Thebes notes, they will have limited viewership as a result of being on a pay cable network. For my sake, I prefer that HBO picked them up, but I do get the point. They won’t be playing at the malls in Peoria. But imagine with HBO on demand and HBO GO how many people will have access to these films. Band of Thebes also writes about a possible connection to Soderbergh’s own discomfort in making this picture.
From their site,
Despite top stars (Michael Douglas, Matt Damon above / Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo) and big directors (Steven Soderbergh / Ryan Murphy), two long-gestating queer films, Behind the Candelabra and Larry Kramer’s aids drama The Normal Heart, have failed to find studio backing and won’t be released as features. The reason is they’re “too gay.”
Read the entire article here.
Read the Soderbergh 3-question article here.
January 9, 2013 at 8:57 pm |
It’s too bad the audience will be slightly smaller, that could also help make them cult-classics though. We’ll see!
January 9, 2013 at 9:00 pm |
that’s true Nathan. And HBO has an amazing reputation. They did Angel in America and last year did the Sarah Palin film. I believe each film will find their audience.