Shoot 'Em Up
A little more than two years ago I ran an early Shoot 'Em Up piece, which was basically about the long hard effort that director-writer Michael Davis underwent in order to get the film funded by New Line Cinema with the help of producers Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Rick Benattar. (New Line execes Jeff Katz and Cale Boyter oversaw things for the studio.) Since then it's been the usual usual -- principal, test screenings, re-shoots, etc. -- and now, finally, with a September 7th release date in place.
It began filming in Toronto in early '06 and wrapped in April, and then Davis cut it over the the next five months or so, and then along came some AICN reactions to a Pasadena test screening last November -- mostly positive and one slam.
These and other reactions convinced New Line to fund two days of additional shooting (a new beginning and ending) that happened early last month with star Clive Owen. The film is now set to open just after Labor Day, which some people will tell you is a "dump" date. On the other hand Transporter and Crank -- two analagous films -- opened on or close to September 7th and did pretty well.
There's no Shoot "Em Up website that I've been able to locate (which seems odd), and there's no teaser-trailer in "new releases" section of the New Line website. (Here's a rough cut of a teaser that Latino Review ran last fall.) Someone in New Line's online marketing branch is feeling under-energized, but the pre-release hoo-hah will almost certainly kick in once the summer season begins.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 14, 2007 at 11:13 AM
comment #1
Noah
says ...
September 7th sounds like they're dumping it. Too bad. Although the flick seems like the kind of fanboy-pleasing, geeky stuff that you don't really get into, Jeff. Or is it more like Miami Vice than 300?
Posted by Noah
at April 14, 2007 11:57 AM
comment #2
The Winchester
says ...
You'd think they would have gotten in on the lucrative fanboy marketing by placing a trailer before 300, Grindhouse, and Hot Fuzz. But alas, nothing. There will probably be a preview before Rush Hour 3, and that'll be it.
Maybe NL is hoping for "Crank"-esque Labor Day weekends? But it still feels like a dump for what looks like a damn fun film.
Posted by The Winchester
at April 14, 2007 12:05 PM
comment #3
erniesouchak
says ...
Hmmm. Could this be the same under-energized marketing department that failed to promote "Little Children"?
Posted by erniesouchak
at April 14, 2007 12:23 PM
comment #4
Dan Revill
says ...
If it isn't a comedy or a hobbit flick, New Line can't be bothered to promote...
Posted by Dan Revill
at April 14, 2007 12:40 PM
comment #5
Dublin101
says ...
Here's a trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dXdjlKv6oo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eworstpreviews%2Ecom%2Ftrailer%2Ephp%3Fid%3D559%26item%3D0
It looks like Sub-John Woo comic book rubbish. Still, it has a fine cast (Clive Owen is the man) and according to AICN there is a sex scene that takes place in the middle of a shoot out. Basically Owen kills shoots numerous baddies while he's giving it to Monica Bellucci. Now, I loved Children of Men but it didn't have a scene quite like that.
Posted by Dublin101
at April 14, 2007 12:53 PM
comment #6
lesterg
says ...
"You'd think they would have gotten in on the lucrative fanboy marketing by placing a trailer before 300, Grindhouse, and Hot Fuzz."
"Lucrative", Grindhouse and Hot Fuzz really don't belong in the same sentence.
Posted by lesterg
at April 14, 2007 1:06 PM
comment #7
RoyBatty
says ...
Don Murphy's involved?
Nothing says "bad omen" like having that name attached to a film. FROM HELL or LEAGUE OF EXTRAORIDINARY GENTS anyone?
Posted by RoyBatty
at April 14, 2007 1:31 PM
comment #8
vansmith
says ...
monica b is hot, anybody see Reversal that french film with her husband, vince cassell, brutal film. her and clive is worth the stretch..
Posted by vansmith
at April 14, 2007 1:36 PM
comment #9
The Winchester
says ...
Lesterg: Touche on the "Lucrative" and "Grindhouse" mistake. But Hot Fuzz is doing fantastic business overseas, and it will probably perform better than Grindhouse when it's released next week.
(And I'd take Pegg and Wright over Tarantino any day of the week. "Don't" was the best damn thing in the all of Grindhouse)
Posted by The Winchester
at April 14, 2007 1:45 PM
comment #10
sutter kane
says ...
It does sound a bit like they're dumping it, but after the box office totals for Children of Men, which had great reviews, I'm not at all sure I'd trust Owen (I also agree he's a terrific actor) to open a movie against much competition. He's one of those guys that Hollywood is trying like hell to make an a-list star out of, but for some reason audiences just aren't buying.
Posted by sutter kane
at April 14, 2007 1:47 PM
comment #11
OddDuck
says ...
Clive Owen's a great actor with a pretty good track record of interesting movies, so I'll reserve judgment on the movie for now, but c'mon, that trailer looks awful. Paul Giamatti comes off especially laughable as a "menacing" bad guy.
Posted by OddDuck
at April 14, 2007 2:36 PM
comment #12
lesterg
says ...
Winchester, no doubt that "Hot Fuzz" is going to be a great movie (loved Shaun of the Dead) but if it makes more than 15 total domestic I'd be shocked. If anything, it has less of a marketing hook than Shaun.
Posted by lesterg
at April 14, 2007 4:51 PM
comment #13
lesterg
says ...
...and Rogue Pictures is about as clueless as Weinstein Co. when it comes to opening a movie.
Posted by lesterg
at April 14, 2007 4:52 PM
comment #14
Jesse Perry
says ...
vansmith: I think you're referring to "Irreversible"?
Posted by Jesse Perry
at April 14, 2007 6:19 PM
comment #15
The Winchester
says ...
Rogue is rather clueless, (I don;t think they have any idea how good a movie they have on their hands) but even if it only makes $15 million, it will still have be more profitable than Grindhouse.
Posted by The Winchester
at April 14, 2007 7:58 PM
comment #16
lipranzer
says ...
I kind of like the idea of Paul Giamatti as a bad guy, and he seemed to be enjoying himself in that trailer. The movie does look like a segment of THE HIRE that they decided not to film, however. And while Monica Belluci may be easy on the eyes, she's like Penelope Cruz in that she hasn't done well in English-speaking roles.
Posted by lipranzer
at April 14, 2007 8:08 PM
comment #17
lesterg
says ...
"even if it only makes $15 million, it will still have be more profitable than Grindhouse"
That's for sure. Unfortunately, they're capped because of Rogue's complete inability to sell a film/crossover to the masses.
Posted by lesterg
at April 15, 2007 10:19 AM
comment #18
actionman
says ...
this will be a lot of fun. it'll be dumb as rocks, but it'll be fun.
Posted by actionman
at April 15, 2007 4:00 PM
comment #19
christian
says ...
simce america is officially the land of SHOOT 'EM UP, i don't know how this is going to play out in the coming weeks...
the first thing out of our domestic terrorist supporting president's mouth is the he still believes owning guns is a basic right...oh and sorry 29 people have been shot.
and now, a christian first:
fuck you george bush
fuck you nra
fuck you republicans
and fuck you america.
Posted by christian
at April 16, 2007 10:54 AM