What if I told you they had made a movie adapting a pretty decent Elmore Leonard novel (Killshot), and that it starred Thomas Jane, Diane Lane, recently Oscar-nominated (and a good pick to win) Mickey Rourke, rising actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rosario Dawson and it had been sitting on the shelf forever.
Oh yeah, and it’s directed by John Madden (Oscar nominated director of Shakespeare in Love).
Now, realistically, unless this was just the most horrific, god-awful movie ever made, any schmuck with a minimal marketing budget and an Oscar nomination list would realize surely this movie could make some money.
If ever there was a time, wouldn’t that time be now, hot off Rourke’s comeback?
And not coincidentally, the character he plays in Killshot is actually a pretty interesting one. Armand ‘The Blackbird’ Degas, hitman, but not one without human emotions. Still a hardass, but comparably stable next to Richie Nix,
the idiot partner he winds up with.
Leonard’s novel had a number of great scenes of tension that even a half-decent screenwriter could do something with.
So what gives?
This quote is from an LA Times blog (here’s a link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/10/harvey-weinstei.html)
The quote is from Harvey Weinstein, explaining the delay: “”Everyone has said that Mickey Rourke is amazing in ‘The Wrestler’ and will be up for all sorts of awards, so we decided to move ‘Killshot’ to a date a few weeks before the Oscars. That way we can capitalize on all the heat that’s going to be around Mickey.”
This movie is being released in FIVE theatres. What kind of capitalization were they hoping for, an extra twenty bucks?
Even if you figure they’re just doing a bullshit DVD promo theatrical release, it doesn’t make sense financially, this movie could have made some money. And artistically it’s a bit disappointing, considering the talent involved.
In summation, boo.
-Dan Benamor