'Lionsgate' to release 'Cafe Society' in theaters + first reactions to a clip at Cinema Con

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For an update on the date of release for 'Cafe Society' please check out our post here.

"A good robust theatrical run is good for everyone," Amazon Studios chief Roy Price told theater owners in Las Vegas hours after learning that five of his movies will play at the Cannes Film Festival.

Just hours after learning that five of its films will play at the Cannes Film Festival, Amazon Studios on Thursday revealed that the streaming service is teaming with Lionsgate to release Woody Allen's festival opener Cafe Society in theaters in August.

Amazon Studios marketing and distribution chief Bob Berney announced the news during a luncheon hosted by the streaming service at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas. His boss, Roy Price, also took to the podium, declaring that Amazon will give most of its original movies a proper theatrical release, unlike rival Netflix.

"A good robust theatrical run is good for everyone," Price told the crowd, prompting several rounds of applause. "Therefore, almost all of our films will have full theatrical releases. Our goals are aligned with exhibition."

Berney led most of the luncheon presentation. It's a coup that Amazon was part of the official program at CinemaCon, considering many exhibitors have been leery about Netflix and Amazon's move into the original movie business. However, Amazon has quickly decided that it's better for their films to play first in theaters and honor the 90-day window before making them available to Amazon Prime customers. Otherwise, most theaters will refuse to play the movies at all.

Last fall, Amazon and partner Roadside Attractions failed to book more than 300 locations for Spike Lee's Chi-Raq since the movie was made available in short order on Prime. Chi-Raq topped out at $2.7 million; worse, it was shut out of the Oscar race, as was Netflix's Beasts of No Nation, which got an even smaller theatrical run. (Price is keen to achieve the same awards glory with film that he has had in TV with Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle.)

The other Amazon Studios pics going to Cannes include Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon, Jim Jarmusch's Paterson and Iggy Pop music documentary Gimme Danger, all of which will play in competition, and The Handmaiden from Korean genre-film master Park Chan-wook.

"As you know, we've been very, very busy, We acquired six films at Sundance," said Berney, who went detailed the company's slate, including never-before-seen footage of Cafe Society and Neon Demon, as well as the premiere of the trailer for the latter pic. Refn spoke to the room via taped message, while Neon Demon star Elle Fanning appeared in person to plug the film.

"Nick is a genius and he’s created something that I’ve never, ever seen before.
 There’s a lot of secrets in it, too, so there’s lots of surprises," said the actress.

Neon Demon was filmed in chronological order, and Fanning said they came up with the ending after they were already shooting. The short clip of Cafe Society featured Jesse Eisenberg and Anna Camp. 


Deadline ...has learned is that the all-star film is going wide on Aug. 29, making it the filmmaker’s first wide release since 2003’s Anything Else which was distributed by DreamWorks and opened to $1.67M at 1,033. That’s big news for an Allen title which typically get platformed. As is the standard, Allen films typically debut in his hometown of New York City, and also in Los Angeles during their first frame. I remember during my distribution days at Savoy Pictures in the ’90s calling around for hourlies on Friday opening films and Allen’s title at the time was putting up hourly grosses at Sony/Loews Lincoln Center on par to a title like Warner Bros. Batman Forever.

Clip from Woody Allen's "Cafe Society": Jesse Eisenberg doing a credible Allen impression.

— Ben Fritz (@benfritz) April 14, 2016

The Cafe Society clip we saw featured Jesse Eisenberg's character turning down Anna Camp's character bc he has a headache #cinemacon

— Rebecca Ford (@Beccamford) April 14, 2016

Just saw a funny scene from Cafe Society with Anna Camp and Jesse Eisenberg. Woody sent it to Amazon just last night. #CinemaCon

— Gregory Ellwood (@TheGregoryE) April 14, 2016

We just saw the first footage of Woody Allen's Cafe Society featuring Jesse Eisenberg. #cinemacon

— Rebecca Ford (@Beccamford) April 14, 2016

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"American Ultra" Appearing for Lionsgate at Comic Con

At the Lionsgate Booth (#4045), there will be talent and filmmaker signings, photo opportunities, promotional giveaways, AV and displays for an exciting slate of upcoming films. Among the numerous films being included are: “The Hunger Games” Mockingjay – Part 2” (November 20, 2015), “The Last Witch Hunter” (October 23, 2015), “Shaun the Sheep” (August 7, 2015), “American Ultra” (August 21, 2015), and “Sicario” (Limited – September 19, 2015).

Update:

The 'American Ultra' Program begins 12pm PT, Friday during SDCC.

*we will update w/cast information once we know more*

 Comic Con in San Diego runs from Thursday 9 July until Sunday 12 July this year.

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Bid on "American Ultra" Premiere Tix in NYC or LA

 

The US film's distributor Lionsgate donated for auction four tickets to attend the Premiere and after party of 'American Ultra' - in Los Angeles or New York on August 17 or 18 - location & date to be determined. CharityBuzz is hosting the auction, and the proceeds will benefit the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences.

"You and 3 friends will enjoy the premiere to Lionsgate's much-anticipated film American Ultra in August 2015.

Afterward, join the star-studded cast, which includes Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton, Topher Grace, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman, Walton Goggins, and Tony Hale at the film’s after-party. It's the "ultra" experience! Premiere date to be determined."

Visit CharityBuzz to Bid & for more details. Bidding is open until May 28, 2015 3:10pm ET.

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Lionsgate acquires 'American Ultra' for US distribution

The appetite for scripts and partially finished films is soaring. Lionsgate is tying up a deal today to pay $7 million to pre-buy U.S. distribution rights to American Ultra, the action comedy that begins shooting in New Orleans in five weeks with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart starring for Project X director Nima Nourizadeh. In the script by Chronicle writer Max Landis, Eisenberg plays a stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend (Stewart) is upended when his past catches up with him, putting him the crosshairs of a government operation bent on wiping him out. It’s a co-production between A Likely Story and Circle Of Confusion, with Anthony Bregman, David Alpert and Britton Rizo producing, and Kevin Scott Frakes of Palmstar Media Capital and Raj Brinder Singh of Merced Media Partners exec producing.

The buzz on this one has been building since Berlin, and I thought a deal might be made there. This rivals the record $7 million Berlin deal that The Weinstein Company paid for U.S. rights to the Morten Tyldum-directed The Imitation Game [.]

The same team at CAA brokered this giant American Ultra deal with Lionsgate after the agency packaged the film and arranged the financing. While many felt that the results of the Berlin market were underwhelming, sometimes those festivals need to be evaluated by results that are not immediately evident. It is becoming more common for dialogue on big films like this one to begin at Berlin. Some of the deals fall in place shortly after, or during the Cannes Film Festival in May. Clearly, studios need to fill slots and haven’t been developing enough, so strong prices should continue to be paid for material and packaged pictures like American Ultra.

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