I first heard about this film on 'Ebert & Roeper' over a month ago. Richard Roeper and A.O. Scott gave it two thumbs up and compared it to "The Searchers" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales." So what happened? Why wasn't "Seraphim Falls" given a wide release? Does anybody know?
shareBecause it couldn't get the funding to do so. A film will go limited release, then depending on the tracking it gets and money it brings in it will expand. It seems it didn't make enough money in its limited run to warrant distributors expanding it. You'll have to wait for the DVD
"If it ain't helpin' your story, get rid of it" -Michael Bay
The more important question is why wasn't it promoted at all to begin with? Even in the cities it did open I understand there was very little promotion. How can a movie be expected to make any money if nobody even knows it's opened?
shareYes, that reference to The Searchers, I thought of that film as well when I was watching Seraphim Falls. The film is more a character study of the two leads than a shoot-em-up western, it reminded me at times of a John Ford film. And with audiences so accustomed to CGI action these days I wonder if many early audience members found it boring. Not that it is, but many mainstream movie fans who don't like anything except stuff blowing up "real good" might have found it so.
shareI have looked in all of the film mags here in the UK and there is been absolutly nothing-just where is the promotion outside the US for this film?
shareThere's really no promotion in the US, either.
They go through all the trouble of hiring two of the most talented actors in Hollywood, give it an apparently good script, etc etc, and they don't really release it on the grounds that it wouldn't have had many people go to it because the studios didn't advertise it. WTF? Hollywood politics suck and need to die.
Surprise, cockfag!
The film IS a shoot-em-up western in the most grisle sense, until it fails to deliver a credible backstory and then turns into an acid trip.
I can't imagine this appealing to many people. Those who like the violent revenge western will hate the trippy spirituality, and those who like trippy spirituality will hate the gritty western. I am ok with both genres, and yet it turned me off to see them crammed into the same movie.
Oh, I like both of those elements, and I think combining them successfully is entirely conceivable, although surely not easy. One example that comes to my mind was 'Dead Man' with Johnny Depp. I understand that a film like that is not everybody's cup of tea, but I found it haunting and brilliant. 'High Plains Drifter' is another one that comes to mind.
Anyway, I have always been intrigued by ambitious box office flops that had no obvious audience ('Waterloo','The Duellists', 'Dune', and 'Legend' are all personal favorites). However, I still think 'Seraphim Falls' should have been given a better chance. Perhaps it would not have made huge money, but if the studio/distributor had attempted to create some advance buzz, who knows what could have happened? Remember what a hit 'Tombstone' was, despite being written off by its studio before they even released it? Anyway, I guess I will just put 'Seraphim Falls' on my Netflix list. Thanks to everyone for answering my inquiry.
Please when are we going to get a UK release date for this ?
shareI saw it at an art house movie theater.
shareMan,
I just happened to see the trailer advertisement when checking the Jerico IMDB site. I've never heard of this film and it has Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan?? And a Civil War backdrop! What up with that? Guess I'll be renting the DVD next weekend!
OH, and I think I caught a glimpse of WES STUDI in the clip (which I verified in the cast listing but I wanted you to know I have a good eye!)
I live in the westside of Los Angeles, which is like Movie Heaven, just about every movie that comes out plays here at least for a week before moving on or dropping out of sight. So I'm almost always able to catch anything on the big screen. I was really looking forward to seeing this, but it only played in far-away theaters- places movies usually play at the END of their run, not the START of it! Not ONE in this area. Very strange, and very frustrating....
shareI saw the preview play in front of 300 on its opening weekend, Apocalypto a few weeks after it was released as well. 300 came out a few months later and there was still a trailer being played I was wondering when the hell would it actually release?
"Have you ever danced with a refrigerator?"
Liam Neeson was on Conan talking about "SF" back in January. Otherwise, I'd not have known about it. He talked to Conan about this movie and about shooting Spielberg's "Lincoln" movie.
The closest theater to have "SF" was in Warrenville, IL. That's about 150 miles from me (one-way), so I didn't go.
Just rented it on dvd. It's okay. Nothing too memorable.
I don't understand why this movie was thrown away -- even in its DVD release. It was actually a very decent western. Nothing spectacular, but definitely good.
You'd think at least that this would be worthy of some publicity and a showing on a U.S. cable network, such as TNT, or a broadcast network, like CBS. Some promotion with ads and commercials would help.
Such a waste that this western just gets completly lost...
it helps people sleep.
Just put it on the Underhill's tab.