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https://scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3084176/russell-crowe-movie-be-first-screened-us-coronavirus
Lifestyle/ Entertainment

Unhinged starring Russell Crowe aims to be first film back in US cinemas

  • July 1 release date set for Unhinged, an upcoming thriller from veteran film producer Mark Gill’s Solstice Studios starring Russell Crowe
  • Movie’s premiere – for when it’s hoped lockdown restrictions will loosen – to mark an early test of whether audiences are itching to return to cinemas
Unhinged starring Russell Crowe is to be the first major film to get a cinema release in the US since the Covid-19 pandemic closed businesses. It’s set to show in cinemas on July 1.

In recent weeks, Hollywood studios and cinema chains have held out hope that US cinemas will be back in business in July, and that audiences will be eager to return.

Veteran film producer Mark Gill is betting the launch of his new studio on whether that dream becomes reality.

Gill’s company Solstice Studios will release the new Russell Crowe psychological thriller Unhinged in US cinemas on July 1, the former Miramax executive says. Although it’s unclear how many theatres will open by then, the film will be the first major new theatrical release since the coronavirus outbreak closed multiplexes in mid-March.

“There’s a risk attached to it, obviously,” says Gill, 57. “We launched our company about 18 months ago to make movies for cinemas. I think you need to stand up for theatres at any time, really, but especially at this time.”

The movie’s premiere will mark an early test of whether audiences are itching to return to cinemas after a long period of limited entertainment options and copious Netflix binge-watching. Unhinged stars the Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind actor as a man whose road rage gets way out of hand.

It’s an especially risky debut for Hollywood-based Solstice, which Gill founded in October 2018 with US$400 million in funding, including US$150 million from London-based financier Ingenious Media.

The company aims to produce three to five movies a year, mostly with production budgets from US$30 million to US$80 million (Unhinged came in at US$33 million). It also hopes to acquire a handful of movies for US release. Solstice has 59 employees.

Setting the stage for its first movie now may seem like a Hail Mary play at a time when much of the US is still in the throes of a public health emergency. The planned debut is more than two weeks before Christopher Nolan’s new movie Tenet hits the multiplex on July 17, which will be followed by Walt Disney’s live-action Mulan remake on July 24.

But Gill said he is not deterred. He said he was heartened by a survey his company commissioned to determine the willingness of audiences to show up at cinemas. Of the 1,000 film-goers who were polled, 80 per cent said they wanted to go back to cinemas in July. Film-goers are defined as people who go six times a year or more.

“I think there’s a lot to be said for pent up demand to get out of the house,” Gill says. “I think that’s very, very real.”

John David Washington in a scene from Tenet, directed by Christopher Nolan, which is set for cinema release on July 17.
John David Washington in a scene from Tenet, directed by Christopher Nolan, which is set for cinema release on July 17.

July is about the earliest major theatre chains are expected to reopen in the US. Cinemark Holdings in Plano, Texas recently pinpointed July 1, a Wednesday, as its target for getting back in business. AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema circuit, has also signalled that it hopes to open its doors that month.

States including Georgia and Texas have eased restrictions to allow theatres to operate at limited capacity, but not all chains have taken the governors up on their invitation to resume operations. Most cinema owners do not want to reopen without major studio productions to put on their screens.

To hear it from Gill, though, the gamble to release in July was not a decision he took rashly. He says he landed on the release date after consulting the National Association of Theatre Owners, a Washington-based lobbying organisation, as well as the nation’s largest exhibitors, AMC, Regal and Cinemark.

Yifei Liu in the title role of Mulan. The film is due to hit US cinemas on July 24. Photo: Disney via AP
Yifei Liu in the title role of Mulan. The film is due to hit US cinemas on July 24. Photo: Disney via AP

The domestic release of Unhinged is expected to follow or coincide with its debut in countries including Australia, China, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan, the company says.

The still-potent disease adds a unique hurdle to the movie’s box office prospects. Social distancing restrictions will probably still be in place in many areas, and analysts do not expect moviegoing to return to pre-pandemic levels until there’s a vaccine, if ever. Theatres that open are likely to do so with limited seating, robust cleaning schedules and mask requirements.

Theatres are expected to reopen with 25 per cent to 50 per cent capacity, with seats blocked off in a checkerboard format in many locations. And even without fears of the coronavirus, there was no guarantee Unhinged would be a hit. Distributors have struggled in recent years to find audiences for mid-budget movies, as the audience for such films migrates online.

A poster for the film Mulan towers over a deserted Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, the US. Photo: Reuters
A poster for the film Mulan towers over a deserted Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, the US. Photo: Reuters

On the plus side, the new movie will not be facing competition for screens. Until Unhinged, the cinemas that reopen will probably be playing older titles to get customers used to the idea of going back.

“It will not be ‘do you want to go to the movies?’ it’ll be ‘do you want to go to the movie?’,” Gill jokes.

Gill was previously president of Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films, where he worked on movies including The Hitman’s Bodyguard and the Olympus Has Fallen series.

He left in 2017 after a failed attempt to buy the company. Before that, he presided over the short-lived speciality label Warner Independent Pictures at Warner Bros.

Veteran film producer Mark Gill worked on films like The Hitman’s Bodyguard starring Samuel L. Jackson (left) and Ryan Reynolds. Photo: Courtesy of Summit Entertainment and Millennium Media
Veteran film producer Mark Gill worked on films like The Hitman’s Bodyguard starring Samuel L. Jackson (left) and Ryan Reynolds. Photo: Courtesy of Summit Entertainment and Millennium Media

Until his abrupt departure in 2002, Gill was the LA-based president of Miramax Films, the studio founded by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob. Gill exited the then-Disney-owned company after clashing with Harvey Weinstein, and he was long known to be unhappy there. Weinstein was convicted of rape in New York earlier this year.

Gill’s credits as a producer, or executive producer, include Frida, Under the Tuscan Sun and Mechanic: Resurrection.