Anne S in Belguim:

A few weeks ago, I mailed you the sad news that A Good Year had been cancelled here in Belgium. This week, I found the following article in my magazine where a journalist actually contacted the Fox to ask why... Very interesting background story. Here is the translation:

It should have been out on this 17 January. Finally, A Good Year, directed by Ridley Scott with in the main parts Russell Crowe and Marion Cottilard, will not be shown in Belgium. ‘Rejected’, as the accepted expression goes, by the 20^th Fox.

 At first, the decision is incomprehensible when you look at the prestigious names of the ones involved. The Fox explains that ‘anyway, from the start, there were numerous tensions between the company and Ridley Scott. About the marketing strategy, the poster choice, etc. Those tensions rebounded on the film run in the United States where the film was a real flop: $8 millions at the box office. After it had made several offers to the headoffice, Fox Belgium decided to withdraw the film from its release list. And this despite the fact that Fox Belgium actually wanted to release the film. People should be aware that to effectively release this kind of picture in Belgium, media-coverage + copies could easily represent an investment of EUR 600 or 700,000. The film would probably not cover this starting budget.’

 

The last past months, the same reasoning – and, in some cases, the very own artistic appreciation of some marketing managers- dumpened All the King’s Men (with Jude Law and Sean Penn), Catch a Fire (Tim Robbins) and Hollywoodland (despite Ben Affleck’s nomination for supporting actor at the Golden Globes and the presence of Adrien Brody). Unfortunately, we will have to wait for their releases on TV or DVD to find out if there was any good reason to dump those films….

 

Just one last thing. In fact, the film was released the week of January 10 but only in a few cinemas in Belgium and without any articles in the media and no advertissement. I happened to notice it by accident when checking the schedule of the cinema I usually go to. Now if you stand in front of the cinema there is no poster for the film.... Despite all this, the film was 13 at the box office on that week. Can you imagine if they would have given it a little push? You have to ask yourself what is the point for a company to invest about $30 million in a product and litterally sabbotage it ? If I were a stockholder of Ruppert Murdoch's company this would be a question I asked at the next general assembly.