A new documentary delves into the origins of the The Rocky Horror Picture Show and why it’s so beloved after 50 years. Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor The Great is a milestone for her and 95-year-old star June Squibb. Also new in theaters this weekend, India’s Oscar selection Homebound, EP’d by Martin Scorsese; Emma Thompson in chilly thriller The Dead Of Winter; and The Ugly by Train to Busan filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho.
On the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Strange Journey: The Story Of Rocky Horror explores the epic journey of the hit play and long-running film — one of the longest continuous runs of any film ever — which has maintained its spot in the cultural zeitgeist for decades. The doc by Linus O’Brien starts a limited theatrical run in over 50 cities including the Landmark Nuart in Los Angeles, the Village East by Angelika in New York and Music Box Theatre in Chicago. The filmmakers working with mTuckman Media have over 100 engagements lined up through October.
The director is the son of Richard O’Brien, the creator of Rocky Horror and the theatrical run comes after a well received world premiere at this year’s SXSW.
The 1975 musical comedy starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick was produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman and distributed by then 20th Century Fox (now owned by Disney). Sharman penned the screenplay with O’Brien, who also played Riff Raff and wrote the music, book, and lyrics to the 1973 stage play. The documentary with intimate access O’Brien, Curry, Sarandon and Adler, looks at what makes the play and film so singular from groundbreaking and transgressive themes, cheesy 1950s sci-fi parody, iconic performances and epic songs. It all had a rough reception initially but launched a cult phenomenon of midnight screenings that continue to this day.
Sony Pictures Classics and TriStar Pictures are out with Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor The Great starring June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht and Erin Kellyman on 892 screens Premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival with Deadline’s review calling it “wonderful and richly textured.” Squibb (Nebraska, Thelma) stars as witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who uproots her life after a devastating loss and, looking for connection, tells a lie that takes on a dangerous life of its own. Squibb, writes Deadline’s Pete Hammond, has done the impossible, starting “a whole new career in her mid-90s as a leading motion picture star.”
Written by Tory Kamen. See Johansson, Squibb and Kellyman at Deadline’s Canes Studio.
India’s Cannes-premiering Oscar submission Homebound, Martin Scorsese EP, opens on 154 screens via Moviegoers Entertainment. The Hindi drama, the second feature by director Neeraj Ghaywan (Cannes 2015 FIPRESCI Prize-wining Masaan) is based on the 2020 New York Times story “A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway” by Basharat Peer. Two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they’ve long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together. Stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Jhanvi Kapoor. See Ghayway and cast at Deadline’s Cannes Studio.
Vertical’s Emma Thompson and Judy Greer-starring action thriller The Dead of Winter by Brian Kirk opens on 605 screens in all major markets. Thompson is Barb, a grief-stricken loner caught in a brutal blizzard in Minnesota (actually shot in Finland) when she discovers a young woman (Laurel Marsden) imprisoned by a desperate armed couple (Greer, Marc Menchaca), forcing this unlikely hero into a dangerous fight for her and the victim’s survival. Screenplay by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb. Thompson’s real-life daughter, actor Gaia Wise, plays younger Barb in the film. Premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where Thompson received the Leopard Club Award.
Well Go USA debuts TIFF-premiering mystery thriller The Ugly by acclaimed Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) on 36 screens Despite having been born blind, Im Yeong-gyu is a master artisan, hand-carving beautiful, engraved seals. One day, his son Dong-hwan receives a call from the police, informing them that Young-hee, their wife and mother who disappeared 40 years ago, has been found as skeletal remains. Dong-hwan begins investigating her death with a producer who has been filming a documentary about Yeong-gyu and comes face-to-face with the long-hidden truth.
Expansion: Magnolia Pictures Plainclothes, which opened at IFC Center in NYC last weekend to $17k, adds New York’s Jacob Burns Film Center, the Landmark Sunset in LA and two locations in Syracuse, NY, hometown of director Carmen Emmi. Expand to another ten markets next week. Premiered at Sundance, winning the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, it stars Tom Blyth as a police officer tasked with arresting men in public bathrooms who becomes entangled with one of his targets, played by Russell Tovey.
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