Is Warner Bros. Giving Up on Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla?

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 14, 2008

Gerard Butler in RocknRolla

Hasn’t Guy Ritchie suffered enough? The man who put his wife, Madonna in a remake of Swept Away and turned his career as a director from “up and coming” to a near joke, has by all accounts returned to form with RocknRolla. The director made a splash with Lock, Stock and Barrel and Snatch. RocknRolla is in the same vein as the films that got Ritchie attention. But will anyone see it?

The film’s producer Joel Silver has been shopping the film which has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Why? It seems Warner Bros. no longer believes in the film and feels it has too many films on its hands so has pulled back from a wide distribution of RocknRolla. They appear poised to abandon the film. According to Warner’s chief Alan Horn:

“I think it’s a well-made picture, but while it’s funny in spots, it’s very English,”

Did Alan Horn see any of Ritchie’s films before Warner Bros. agreed to distribute RocknRolla? What did they think they’d signed on to distribute?

RocknRolla Movie Poster Does the audience who would like to see the film have to be denied the opportunity by the Warner Bros. machine? Does every film that gets wide release have to have a superhero in it? If the cast were wearing capes and masks would RocknRolla get the wide release it deserves?

The cast includes Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkenson and the hot property Gerard Butler. Yes, they’re English, but hey there’s Ludacris and Jeremy Priven who are Americans! Real Americans in a very English film, how about that?

I’ll get to see the film because I live just outside NYC and the film will open in NYC. But there are people who like Ritchie’s earlier films and who don’t live near the paltry 800 screens that are now planned for RocknRolla.

What’s particularly odd about this new attitude towards the film is it was showcased with a panel at last month’s Comic-Con. It seems to me if a film could have a panel at Comic-Con the belief had to be that there was an audience for it out there.

It appears to me Warner Bros. is making the mistake of not seeing there’s audiences hungry for something other than big action films, superheroes and mindless comedies. There’s a place for many different kinds of films and the studio should put some muscle behind Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla.

So, here’s the awful truth. Every time a studio executive decides to dump this kind of film, a very English film dies unseen. Clap your hands, make your voices heard. Don’t let RocknRolla die!

Are you interested in seeing RocknRolla?

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Diane

Cheers for a cogent assessment!

Do I want to see RockNRolla? YES! I have been awaiting this film since it first went into production. But I live in middle-America where Warner Bros will decide for me that it is "too English" for the market. This is so infuriating.

There must be more to this story than we know at the moment.

All I can say is: Give me my "sex, thugs, and rock 'n' roll!" Give me RockNRolla!

Schofizzy

No, I am looking forward to seeing what Guy Ritchie and RDJ do with Sherlock Holmes though. RocknRolla looks too much like "Snatch" and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells," I am beginning to wonder if Ritchie has anything else his sleeve? Let's get him out of the Hooligan and mobster faze and see how he fares in the sleuth department! RDJ will own Holmes! What ever happened to Butler playing Snake Pliskin? Why is Piven look like he's the same character from Smokin' Aces?

Gillian Fey

My friends and I have eagerly awaited RocknRolla. Butler plus Ritchie, what could be more fun and sure to bring in mega box office dollars? Mr. Horn at WB disagrees as, he says, this film is "very English." And? Many major hits have been "very English." The cast, in any case, is an international ensemble, each with proven charisma and prowess.

The word from those who have seen previews is that this is a well made, witty, most entertaining film. Let's hope it finds a perceptive distributor who will give it the marketing it deserves instead of being downgraded from a major to a limited release. I live in a small city that won't be one of the lucky 800 if there are that many, and I want to see it locally onn a big screen in a first run theater at least the first time, not at home on dvd.

Diane comments, "there must be more to this story than we know at the moment."
I agree.

Sheryl Glenn

I agree with the writer Robin. The studios, Warner Bros, included are leaning toward the big budget films with action and effects alike. The sophisticated movie like ROCKNROLLA or even for that matter ("Death at a Funeral", which was English, so good and funny I believe got buried a little, pardon the bun. It did make it to the Midwest where I reside.)

I want to have the choice of seeing RNR on the big screen. It is showing the real decline of London and what is happening there with what Richie wrote about. Being Madonna's husband is a great shadow to step out from under and stand on his own feet to bring to us things we enjoy and want to see.

Just because something is English shouldn't matter. We are a society that is diversified and able to understand much of what goes on around the world. So quit taking that attitude Warner Bros. that if it wasn't English we would go see it. That makes me want to go see it even more now. lol. I have seen English movies and enjoyed them for years.

If Comic Con put RNR up on there panels for discussion, then there must be enough interest in RNR which shouldn't be ignored. This says a lot to me right there. Marketing as already been done for you at no great cost by having it touched on there.

Don't decide what the audience would like, it is sending a message to us that we can't or shouldn't think for ourselves. I for one, take great affront by that assumption. You movie execs in the know have heard the old saying, "Never Assume". I will not go on from there. We know the rest and so do you.

Release RocknRolla and let the public make the choice for themselves to see it or not.

Yes, there is a hidden agenda lurking somewhere out there and it is being kept from us about this film and others.

SFor

YES!!!! Please make RockNRolla available to those who don't live in NYC!!! I am so excited about seeing this film. Surely there's a savy distributor out there who can see its potential. Warner certainly doesn't seem to.

Cole Abaius

Considering the reception that RockNRolla got at Comic Con, it would be a serious misstep for the studio not to do a serious release. At least a mid-level release.

michele

YES, I definitely want to see this film, I'm a fan of Guy Ritchie's films.And Rocknrolla has such a wonderful cast and deserves a wide-release in the U.S.
I sure hope Warner Bros reconsiders their decision.

Just want to note that Total Film magazine(UK) gave RocknRolla a 4 star rating. They note -"Guns, Girls, Geezers....Guy Ritchie returns to Diamond Form".

LIz Usher

IS Warner Bros. insane? WE WANT "ROCKNROLLA: in our theatres!!!!!!!!! I'm so sick of the comic book superheroes...I haven't even gone to one of them!!!!! I hate Apatow comedies; I am sick of the usal treacle.

Give me Gerard Butler in a classy, funny, hot , exciting ENGLISH movie! I want to see "Rocknrolla"!!!!!!!

Contact Alan Horn...and tell him that we want to see Ritchie's new film...Give it a chance! Give us a chance to see Butler, too!

Christine

I'd like to add my voice to the masses that would like to see this movie! I've even been checking the local "art house" cinemas hoping that they would have their Oct. schedules posted already. Alas, I did not find them ... and from the sounds of things, I will probably not be in one of the chosen few market areas. It's time the big studios stop adding to the dumbing down of American society by assuming that only "select markets" have enough intelligence to appreciate anything other than a commercial blockbuster. Let RNR be seen everywhere!

Nish

I don't get movie producers. Here's a marketable film that could expose a society accused of being dumbed down to an intelligent action thriller and they don't want to show it! Surely showing it would be a public service. Lets just hope they decide to distribute this "too english" film in the UK or else.

Is Warner Bros. Giving Up on Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla?

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