Cannibals and a beloved rock band hit the indie circuit for the long holiday weekend as Magnolia Pictures opens action thriller 40 Acres and This Is Spinal Tap returns for a special engagement from Bleecker Street and Fathom. A24 expands Eva Victor’s critically acclaimed directorial debut Sorry, Baby to 14 screens from 4.
Magnolia acquired 40 Acres out of TIFF this year where it was named one of Canada’s Top 10 films of the festival. It’s in 300+ theaters nationwide. The directorial debut of R.T Thorne set in a post-apocalyptic world chronicles a multi-racial Canadian farming family fighting to protect their piece of land from rabid cannibals. Star Danielle Deadwyler is the shoot-first matriarch of an angsty family put to the test when her son (Kataem O’Connor) makes a grave misstep that puts their collective in great danger. Thorne wrote the screenplay with Glenn Taylor and Lora Campbell. Also stars Michael Greyeyes and Milcania Diaz-Rojas.
The film, as per the press notes, redefines human fears in the face of apocalypse in a contemporary dystopia that puts Black and Indigenous characters at the center of a story about people defending their land from those who would kill them for it without a second thought. That echoes themes in Ryan Coogler’s hit Sinners, which has been on a phenomenal run.
Magnolia doesn’t often release this wide with its last big push being Thelma last summer, the June Squibb-starrer acquired out of Sundance that became a sleeper hit. The distributor had initially planned a more limited opening for 40 Acres but saw potential, raised the budget and put it in more theaters. Reviews are very good, it’s 89% Certified Fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It opened Wednesday with sales/presales looking solid in a crowded market. Deadwyler was on hand at AMC Century City for a Q&A last night and will be tonight.
Bleecker Street and Fathom are teaming up on the nationwide return of This Is Spinal Tap July 5-7, fully remixed, restored and remastered in 4K for the 41st anniversary of the 1984 cult classic created by Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. In 2002, the original was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry, tiny Stonehenge, big hair and all.
In 1,015 theaters nationwide with limited screenings for the three days.
The rerelease of the mockumentary masterpiece sets the stage for upcoming sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, set to premiere September 12 from Bleecker Street. Reiner returns as director and Guest, McKean and Shearer reprise their roles as members of the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap, reuniting after 15 years for one final show.
Music Box Films is playing Kill The Jockey by Louis Ortega at the Film Forum. Argentina’s Oscar submission premiered at Venice (see Deadline review) and screened at TIFF. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart stars in the absurdist comedy as a legendary jockey whose self-destructive behavior is beginning to outshine his talent and threaten his relationship with his girlfriend Abril (Úrsula Corberó). Opened July 2, expands next week to L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Washington D.C. and more. Produced by Pedro and Agustin Almodóvar’s company El Deseo.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse from Rialto Pictures opens July 4 at Film Forum in a new 4k restoration ahead of a national expansion through September. In 1976, Eleanor Coppola filmed her husband Francis Ford Coppola’s challenges shooting Apocalypse Now (1979), capturing the real world difficulties that complicate the filmmaking process. The now iconic film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered unfinished. The making-of doc was released in 1991, also winning its share of awards. Directed by Fax Bahr, the late George Hickenlooper and the late Eleanor Coppola; produced by Doug Claybourne, Michael Doqui, Fred Fuchs, Les Mayfield, Fred Roos, George Zaloom. With Eleanor Coppola, John Milius, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola. Screenwriter: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper. Documentary Footage: Eleanor Coppola.
Check out Deadline’s Doc Talk Podcast for the inside story of the film with Fax Bahr and American Zoetrope’s James Mockoski, who oversaw the restoration process.
Documentary Videoheaven is out at the IFC Center. World Premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is just off its North American premiere at Tribeca. Opened July 2. Adds L.A.’s Vidiots on August 6.
Socio-cultural hub, consumer mecca, and source of existential dread, the video rental store forever changed the way we interact with movies. With narration by Maya Hawke over footage culled from hundreds of sources from TV commercials to blockbuster films, the doc by Alex Ross Perry is the story of an industry’s glorious, confusing, novel, sometimes seedy, but undeniably seismic impact on American movie culture. Edited by Clyde Folley; produced by Andrew Adair, Jake Perlin, Daniel Herbert and Perry. From Cinema Conservancy.
Shout! Studios is out with Alicia Silverstone in erotic thriller Pretty Thing as a successful executive in a torrid affair with a younger man (Karl Glusman) who becomes obsessed with her. Day and date with a limited theatrical opening including LA and NYC.