This is apparently the year that art house cinema died, according to Ed Burns. His last two films struggled to find an audience, and yesterday his new film PURPLE VIOLETS debuted exclusively on iTunes, where it is available for download for $14.99. It is first release of its kind. Talking about the box-office failures of RENDITION and LIONS FOR LAMBS, he said that “If they’re not going to see Reese Witherspoon and Tom Cruise they’re not coming out to see me and Patrick Wilson. The audience isn’t there anymore.” He also goes on to talk about how films like THE SQUID AND THE WHALE made far less money than they would have, had they come out in the 90s. Now, I love Ed Burns, but I’m inclined to disagree about this. I’d like to think that great art house films like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN will still make a ton of money, because they are… well… great. I am totally down with this iTunes experiment though, and I’m very interested to see how much money PURPLE VIOLETS eventually makes. The film, starring Selma Blair, Patrick Wilson, Debra Messing and Burns himself, looks at a woman (Blair) who struggles with the pressure of becoming the next important American writer.
Check the movie out over HERE.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed