-
The Coens, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan ... -
Cannes Film Festival Diary: Le Dernier J ... -
Cannes Review Roundup: Alexander Payne's ... -
Cannes: James Toback Talks 'Seduced and Abandoned,' ... -
Critics’ Choice Television Award Nominations ...
'Only God Forgives': Gosling No-Show at Cannes, ...
Cannes Review Roundup: Robert Redford Keeps ...
Now and Then: Obituary for 'The Big C,' Starring ...
Boston's Best Dennis Lehane Adapts Beach-Bum ...
Review: Rama Burshtein's Luminous 'Fill the ...
Cannes Review: Douglas and Damon Shine in ...
Three Weddings Before a Bunch of Funerals: ...
Talking 'Star Trek Into Darkness' VFX
Bradley Cooper Is New Model Smart Star
Q & A: How Willimon Runs Fincher's 'House ...Young Victoria Goes to Apparition
Producer Graham King showed Berney the film a month ago--again, he did not wait to screen it at Toronto. "It feels like an Anne Hathaway breakout role," says Berney, "Emily Blunt could be very awards-friendly."
You have to give Berney credit for his conviction. He's taking three big expensive swings at bat. I've seen Jane Campion's Bright Star and while I know that it's austere, period, and boasts no star names, it has emotional power and should play for critics, upscale audiences (especially women) and the Academy. It's a gorgeously mounted movie. Terrence Malick's Tree of Life is anyone's guess. But it could be fabulous, and Brad Pitt is starring. Check out the trailer below for GK Productions' The Young Victoria.
The trouble with period costumers is that they don't always play on DVD--unless they hit it out of the park. While Sony Pictures Classics releases plenty of period pics, they tend not to pay more than $1 to 2 million to distribute them, and to handle them on a limited basis.
Word from those who've seen the film: it's well done and romantic, if a tad slow. Julian Fellowes ( Gosford Park) wrote The Young Victoria, which is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y.) and produced by King, Martin Scorsese, Tim Headington and Sarah Ferguson. Berney praises Blunt and the ensemble, including Paul Bettany, Rupert Friend and the irrepressible Jim Broadbent. The film grossed $7 million in the UK with an aggressive 400-print release by Momentum, and played better for older women than young ones. Berney is a canny marketer, so we'll see.
Survival in the new indie world is about containing costs. Berney had plenty of money to work with at Picturehouse. We'll see how he manages to find a workable new profit model.
2 Comments
rgm | August 11, 2009 3:24 AM
Saw Young Victoria this spring on a BA flight. It plays very well, indeed, and could appeal to a younger group if marketed for them. It is "YOUNG" Victoria, after all, and she actually rebels!!! against authority. There's also a decent and conflcited romance to entertain a younger female crowd. Too bad "Victorian" is synonymous with antiquated views. Berney could market this in the same way he plans to present Bright Star: as teen romance. Victoria was queen at 18 and married at 26. Keats died at 26. The time span is close-- if not the actual time frame.
rgm | August 11, 2009 1:09 AM
Saw Young Victoria this spring on a BA flight. It plays very well, indeed, and could appeal to a younger group if marketed for them. It is "YOUNG" Victoria, after all, and she actually rebels!!! against authority. There's also a decent and conflcited romance to attract a younger female crowd. Too bad "Victorian" is synonymous with antiquated views. Berney could almost market this to the same age group as Bright Star (as a teen romance): Victoria was queen at 18 but not married until she was 26 (the same age as Keats when he died). The romantic time span, if not frame, is almost the same.