Arthouse movies have a place in the mainstream if they live long enough. Every time the Academy Awards come around, it always feels like there are one or two "case study" films that break out not just because of their mastery, but because the industry is changing with them. This year those films are CODA and Drive my Car. We covered how CODA is going to beef up streamers' production scale. But one thing we have not talked about is how Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s three-hour arthouse adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story was able to break out this year. The movie grossed $1 million in 150 theaters. That's almost unheard of in terms of foreign film distribution. So how did this happen? What made a small, indie Japanese movie break out and have a long enough life to get noticed and get into contention for the Academy Awards' Best Picture? The movie was released by Janus Films and a new company called Sideshow, run by IFC Films executive Jonathan Sehring. Sehring told Indiewire: Read More...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 31 March, 2022