Music Box Films scores with sleeper indie
Its title notwithstanding, "Tell No One" is becoming the word of mouth hit of the summer.
With almost no advertising, Guillaume Canet's superimposed mystery around a doctor wrongly suspected of kill his wife has, in a month of very limited discharge, earned $1.7 zillion and has still so far to fully widen. The movie has increased its box-office, oftentimes by impressive double-digit percentages, every week of its platform rollout.
But even more than surprising than the box office of the two-hour French-language film with a generally unknown contrive is the story of the company behind its U.S. button, Music Box Films, a startup distributer that grew out of a Chicago arthouse dramaturgy only last year.
The label's founder, a lawyer and real estate entrepreneur named William Schopf, came to the moving-picture show business most by prospect. He number 1 only owned the bulding in which Chicago's Music Box arthouse theater was housed, then took it over when the tenant moved out.
Last year, Schopf decided to become a distributor -- in part, he says, because it felt like a smarter way to expand than opening more theaters, simply in portion because he wanted to do something for his employees. "It seemed wish it would give some of the people world Health Organization worked for us more than career options," he said. Schopf likewise hired Palm Pictures stager Ed Arentz, who nowadays works full-time from New York.
After deuce micro-releases, the company picked up "Tell No One." The flick had a level of intrigue because it was based on Harlan Coben's bestselling novel. But it was passed over by some of the speciality divisions -- Arentz wonders if the film's commercial success in France worked against it -- opening up the door for a startup like Music Box.
Still, it took more than sextuplet months from when the company first gear showed interest last summer to close a plow with gross revenue agent Europa Corp.
In some ways, the movie's success has even surprised its distributor. "We were a little taken aback by how well the plastic film opened," Arentz said.
So what's driving ticket office? Strong reviews from the New York Times, L.A. Times and New Yorker have for sure helped, in particular with the film's elder demo. And the cinema does take a intimate genre that a host of conspiracy-minded mysteries and movies like "The Fugitive" have long dwelled in. Press years for Canet -- unusual for a small foreign film -- in New York and L.A. get also fueled interest.
But Arentz notes that there's only so much that commode be accounted for. "I've love to be capable to take credit for it but I don't think we've innovated as well significantly," he said. "I think you might regular call it a well-chosen accident."
Observers besides say one can't rebate the burden of timing. With summer movies bigger and splashier than ever, and studio specialty divisions cutting their slates, it's easier for an indie to slip between the cracks.
"Tell No One" is enough of a wagon-lit hit that a number of studios have even asked to borrow a print, presumably for remake rights (a deal Europa Corp. is said to be interested in making). The success has besides caused some specialty execs to appear to it it as a heartening tale in difficult times --even if it also (mildly) stirs other juices.
"One's competitive spirit is somewhat piqued when someone else else does well with a moving-picture show and you think 'Why didn't we have that?'" aforementioned Miramax head Daniel Battsek. "However, when you stand back and look at it from a general point-of-view, "Tell No One" shows that this thought that masses have stopped going to a certain kind of movie is just non right."
Music Box wants to react cautiously to the "Tell No One" gaolbreak. In the fall it will release another French film, Emmanuel Mouret's amorous comedy "Shall We Kiss?" and plans to stick to its plan for 4-6 indie and alien movies per year. "We don't want to make an overhead situation where we on the spur of the moment have to release films," Arentz said, adding, I've been suggesting that it's possible "Tell No One" may be the biggest movie we ever experience. And I think we'd be o.K. with that."
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