MovieChat Forums > Stretch (2014) Discussion > Universal backs out of March 21st releas...

Universal backs out of March 21st release date

posted 10 years ago by xfile1971
14 replies | jump to latest

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures has scrapped plans to release "Stretch" theatrically. Evidently Universal decided that "the expense of releasing (the) movie theatrically might not be justified by the returns." Since the film had a whopping $5 million dollar budget, they are afraid that they will lose money if they show it in theaters. When you consider that Blumhouse Productions films are box office flops and nobody famous is in "Stretch", I imagine this is a wise decision because they would never recoup their costs.
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The government has ceased to function, the corporations are the government -
Theodore Dreiser

[–] frostyjack 10 years ago

Think they might be holding out for a summer blockbuster release facing it against 'Godzilla' or something along those lines. The budget did skyrocket from 4mil to 5mil, so I can see it from the studios' side.

[–] nikkiten1979 10 years ago

Delaying the release on a finished movie and not releasing it anytime soon isn't going to recoup anything either - if anything it will hurt them more.

(•_•)

can't outrun your own shadow

I AM DEE BEE -- 10 years !

[–] xfile1971 10 years ago

Ahh... the joys of internet sarcasm. "Whoosh!" is the sound flying overhead.

Blumhouse is responsible for films such as the "Paranormal Activity" series, "The Purge", & "Insidious 2". All of those films had small budgets and made massive profits at the box office.

I would think that a film with a puny $5 mil budget and starring Chris Pine, Jessica Alba, Ray Liotta & Patrick Wilson could make its money back. Evidently my original post was confusing due to the fact that I overestimated the intelligence of some IMDb users. (At least 'frostyjack' got it.)
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The government has ceased to function, the corporations are the government -
Theodore Dreiser

[–] frostyjack 10 years ago

bwaha, ...yip, nikkiten1979 didn't get the memo. It's just ridiculous really, why they pulled it I don't know!!

[–] reache 10 years ago

It doesn't star Chris Pine; a ton of articles have said that he only had a cameo appearance. I imagine Alba, Liotta, and Helms were also cameo-type appearances, given the tiny budget. I think that's the problem, though: the only thing all the articles are talking about is how it has such a star-studded cast, but...it doesn't.

[–] frostyjack 10 years ago

It does have a star-studded cast, ...you are going on technicalities, I am basing this on the fundamentals of semtantics.

[–] SeasonalAffective 10 years ago

Early reviews are excellent, and Carnahan's last feature was featured on several "best of the year" lists, so the guy knows what he's doing. To top that off, he says it's his best work.

I truly doubt the movie won't make back at least its budget. It'll make it back several times. I don't get this decision at all.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] YouWillNeverStopWASP 10 years ago

It probably has a lot to do that the major studios consider 20 million marketing standard on all theatrically released films. That is the bare minimum, and that's a lot for this one.

[–] SeasonalAffective 10 years ago

It's a shame. Nice profile pic, by the way.

[–] scorpion-52 10 years ago

Some more info on Stretch, basically it will come out this year, but it won't be a wide release:

http://collider.com/stretch-release-date-distribution-jason-blum/

Hope it gets a VOD release at the same time.

[–] SeasonalAffective 10 years ago

Awesome. Thank you for this.

[–] HelloMyNameIsMrBurns 9 years ago

Blumhouse has released numerous hits and there are several famous actors in stretch.

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

Universal thought they will take a bath with this film hence the limited release.

It's that man again!!