Boys Love Mandy Lane; Studios, Not So Much

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 11, 2008

A few months back, when I was a much younger man, I remember relaxing on a terrace at the Marriot in Park City, Utah, enjoying a break from the madness of the Sundance Film Festival by hanging out with director Jonathan Levine, whose film The Wackness had rocked the house mere days beforehand at its world premiere.

And while the main topic of the interview was Wackness, its certain success (it did go on to win the Audience Award, as I had predicted) and Levine’s future as a big-time directorial force, I do recall spending a few moments talking about All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, Levine’s previous film that had made its debut at Toronto back in ‘06, but was still awaiting a proper release.

“Its either late March, early May,” he explained. “They’ve been moving it around because they want to avoid like Prom Night. But it will be out and it will hopefully be something people like, you know. Its been a long road, but I think we’re getting to the end of it.”

That was late-January of this year. Today, we are hearing a completely different, and entirely more disappointing story from our friends over at JoBlo. They are reporting that while we were expecting Mandy Lane (and super-hot star Amber Heard) to be gracing the silver screen in May, it now appears that Senator International, a distribution arm of The Weinstein Company (go figure) will be eyeing an August release date.

To say the least, this is a huge disappointment — and I have not even seen the film yet. I know people who did see it at Toronto back in ‘06 that will be absolutely crushed by such news. It goes to show, once again, that someone in and around The Weinstein Company has their head secured well up their ass. I don’t think I need to rehash what is still happening with Fanboys, do I? For fans of horror and fans of filmmakers with serious skills — Jonathan Levine has serious talent, I assure you; anyone who has seen The Wackness knows that — this should be a huge disappointment.

At this point, I’m looking for something to boycott in support of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. Anyone have any suggestions?

Read more articles by Neil Miller