How to Sell Literary Films

Staff Writer: Samuntha Mackenzie

Strange how literature and film go together but are sometimes unsellable. Take for instance, Dorian Gray, a literary icon sits while a buyer is sought. Natalie Brenner, Head of Sales for Ealing Studios, was interviewed about the dichotomy.

At TIFF the mission is clear: sell your film. Brenner states: "While we’ve sold [distribution] for much of the world, including Canada, we still have America to sell and a few of the [other] major territories. A gala is a fantastic way to present it, a fantastic platform. If you can generate a few good reviews and word of mouth, that is the best way for your film to be seen. Toronto’s very valuable to us."

OHG has wrote in previous articles about generating buzz, some good reviews, and fan support. These factors garner an advantage in a competitive market.

Ealing confirms this need in order to sell a property. Moreover for a literature adaptation because of its complexity to the viewing audience. Brenner adds: "We’re waiting to see how the reviews come out. With a literary adaptation, the reality check is they’ll probably be mixed. When you adapt such a well-known property, you’re probably not going to please everyone. Some people are going to love it and some are going to feel it’s not the Dorian Gray of the book."

Dorian Gray fans in the US: don't give up hope. Though the number of distributors have dwindled in the slow economy, there are other companies out there. Fans can make it happen.

For more of this interview, please check out our source.

Source: TheAmpersand

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St. Trinian's US Release Date

Staff Writer: Grave Digger

Finally, the St. Trinian's remake is hitting US theaters on October 2nd, 2009!

This comedy is rip roarin' fun. A school of bad girls is run by a headmistress who finds their antics a positive attribute. The school runs afoul of the bank and needs money. So what do these girls do? Steal, of course.

Here for the US Trailer.

OHG Review: St. Trinian's is No School.

Source: Official US Site, Facebook, and Official UK Site

Revolving Dorian Gray Dates

Staff Writer: Grave Digger

Another round of "change that release date" has struck the film of Dorian Gray. The new UK release is not published on IMDB, Momentum Pictures, Ealing Studios, or Facebook sites concerning the movie. Momentum has been informing websites via email.

Though OHG contacted Ealing Studios, the company never returned any of our email requests for updated information. However, Dorian Gray's IMDB page was changed to reflect September 11th as the release date instead of September 18th.

Now, the release date has been changed to September 9th.

Not disappointed the film will be released early, but disappointed the movie has no US release date yet.

Another disappointing factor is no TIFF premiere, or word of a world premiere date. We'll keep you posted.

Updated article as of 9/3: Dorian Gray Cinema Release Dates

This article is an update to: Dorian Gray Release Date Change

Please check out our list of Dorian Gray articles and reviews by the navigation on the right, search tool, or label search.

Source: Momentum Pictures

Ealing Sells Dorian Gray

Staff Writer: Samuntha Mackenzie

Ealing Studios has sold the distribution rights to Dorian Gray throughout Europe and Canada.

Dorian Gray is about a corrupt young man that sins in the vices of life. He enjoys the flavor and entices others into his downward spiral. Ben Barnes stars with Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rachel Wood Hurd, and Rebecca Hall. The film was directed by Oliver Parker.


Distributors list includes:

Alliance Films - Canada
Momentum Pictures - UK
Aurum - Spain
Eagle - Italy
Scanbox - Scandinavia
Concorde - Germany
Village Roadshow - Australia and New Zealand
Odeon - Greece
Best Film - Poland

So far a US distributor has not been named.

Source Variety

St. Trinian's is No School

Staff Writer: Samuntha Mackenzie

3 3/4 out of 5 shovels
A school for young ladies who steal, know explosives, and can gamble, St. Trinian's is the perfect place to learn the illicit crafts of jail house joints.

The fun is almost interrupted because their headmistress cannot pay back the bank loan.

What are bad girls supposed to do? Rob a bank? No, the girls pull a bait and switch. Steal a painting from the National Gallery while winning a school game show, sell a replica for half a bar, and return the original painting for the reward money.

At times, the film is immature but quirky- British humor. Smart and consistent throughout much of the film with a few plot discrepancies makes St. Trianian's a treat.

If you can suspend your disbelief, then these girls will steal you blind.

Official Site

Dorian Gray Comments

Staff Writer: Grave Digger

Fangor1a got some cast and director comments on the upcoming release of Dorian Gray:

Toby Finlaym scriptwriter states: “It’s a timeless story with a great deal of contemporary currency regarding the desire to halt the aging process, the pursuit of pleasure and the obsession with celebrity culture."

“What interested me most was the clash between the decadent Victorian ways of old and the modern Edwardian era just around the corner. Wilde really had written the first draft of American Psycho!" Finlay comments. "I wanted to tap into those psychosexual aspects, making the mysterious picture not just an object but also something Dorian carries around inside him."

"The time frames have been exaggerated,” Barnes describes about his role. “My character leaves London for 25 years, but then arrives back literally in the next shot completely unchanged while everyone else around him has aged. It’s then that he meets Emily, the daughter of his mentor Lord Henry Wotton, the one new character addition to our story. But he doesn’t exploit Emily. Despite Henry’s fears, Dorian shows his humanity instead, making it a triangular, stake-raising moral dilemma.”

“The story is just so irresistible, isn’t it?” Colin Firth adds. “I was shocked by how many film and television versions there have been, so people clearly feel compelled to dramatize the issues at its heart. I wanted to be in the movie after reading Toby’s script, because my character, Lord Henry, actually has an arc to play, whereas the book contains no journey or conflict. The ‘sins of the father’ aspect coming home to roost regarding his daughter was something I could sink my teeth into, not just standing around pretty period sets spouting famous Wilde lines.”

Director Oliver Parker had already made Wilde adaptations—An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest (another Firth film). “That’s one of the reasons I was only down to executive-produce for Ealing Studios at first,” he states. “I felt I’d paid my Wilde dues, but then I read Toby’s final screenplay and was knocked out by his accent on the story’s humanity, pathos and subtle chills. The quotable dialogue is just a background to a richly textured nightmare world Toby had visualized. How to make the standard drawing-room stuff frightening, the debauchery shocking and the radical reinterpretation of the picture in the attic as a whole new monster was a terrific challenge."

Fans must wait until September 11, 2009 for the UK release. US release date has not been posted.

Source: Fangor1a.