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Netflix alone has robust enough of an awards slate to supplement the entire awards season. That extra month and a half of eligibility should help pad the list of contenders as well.

A little late but I saw HBO Max will finally premiere Superintelligence on November 25th after it was finished more than two years ago. I guess this makes Malignant the new "what the hell is Warner Bros. doing with this movie?" candidate.

Unsurprisingly, Disney pulled Free Guy and Death On the Nile from their December release dates last night. New dates for both are currently TBD. Only a matter of time before Wonder Woman follows suit.

Mosul will hit Netflix on Thanksgiving Day. I guess they wanted a movie inbetween Mank (sure Oscar contender) and Hillbilly Elegy (possibly Razzie contender) this Holiday season.

Meanwhile, Fantastic Beasts 3 has been pulled from the 2021 schedule. Also, The Comeback Trail has lost its date (possible streaming debut?).

I was never convinced that Hillbilly Elegy was a lock to be an Oscar favorite, but seeing it get borderline ravaged by critics is truly a shock. Thankfully, Netflix has about 37 other contenders to fall back on.

And now even Universal is delaying things. Marry Me has been pushed back to 5/14/2021 (from 2/12/2021) while Spirit Untamed will now bow three weeks later on 6/4/2021.

Some awards contender news:
Pieces of a Woman will hit Netflix on January 7th after a December theatrical run.
Minari has an awards qualifying run lined up for December 11th, followed by a wide release on February 12th.

So A24 isn't broke after all. Maybe they will finally release Saint Maud and The Green Knight.

They should have put Saint Maud out this year. It was never going to be a BO smash so they could have availed of lack of competition. It performed well here in the UK (it would have done better if it wasn't of COVID, but not that much better if Candyman had stuck to its date), and is now finished its theatrical run.

Their strategy throughout this process has been very confusing. They're literally the only studio of note that has just sat on all of their releases throughout the pandemic. Guess their merch money is enough to sustain the entire operation

The only A24 things this year (Uncut Gems was last year though most of the gross came this year) that made them any money were their Showtime deal and the Blu-ray release of the Midsommar director's cut (and for the latter, I have to imagine the profit margins were slim even with Midsommar being a meme and all). First Cow didn't make much money (and at one point, you could rent it on streaming for 99 cents) and they only got a distribution fee for On the Rocks as Apple put up the money for that one.

As for confusing, a lot of what they do there is confusing. We just choose to ignore it as their vocal fanbase can't take any criticism of their strategy.

It looks like Happiest Season will now be following the PVOD strategy Sony used for The Craft: Legacy, as the poster lists "rent or buy" before its Thanksgiving Day date. On a related note, it seems like TriStar is pretty much being used for any pickup that the head of Sony Pictures likes more than their Stage 6 titles as The Last Vermeer (still scheduled for a Friday bow) is also a TriStar release rather than Sony Pictures Classics.

Buscemi2 wrote: ↑

November 16th, 2020, 12:03 pm

It looks like Happiest Season will now be following the PVOD strategy Sony used for The Craft: Legacy, as the poster lists "rent or buy" before its Thanksgiving Day date. On a related note, it seems like TriStar is pretty much being used for any pickup that the head of Sony Pictures likes more than their Stage 6 titles as The Last Vermeer (still scheduled for a Friday bow) is also a TriStar release rather than Sony Pictures Classics.

That's the UK poster, although I believe that's the strategy for its international release (Australia is the only place that I'm aware of where its still opening theatrically). It's on Hulu in the States the day before Thanksgiving.

Oh, now I see that it was for the international release. But it's interesting that a week before release, there's been no marketing by Hulu. But considering the number of recent flops with Stewart and Davis in the cast, they probably are choosing to bury it.

As for theatrical, I have to imagine at least one drive-in in Los Angeles County will play it. Bad Hair, another Hulu title, got a week at the Vineland Drive-In to qualify for Oscars.

STX has announced today that they'll be releasing Songbird via PVOD on December 11th. Nothing like dropping a COVID-themed thriller right in the middle of the 2nd wave...