Uwe Boll's "Postal" In Jeopardy
May 12, 2008 23:52
Last week Vince Desi of Running with Scissors sent out an email asking for support of the upcoming "Postal" movie, which is directed by notorious video game movie director Uwe Boll. It seems that the film, which was based on the controversial RWS game of the same name, is getting shut out by the major movie theater chains.
Slated to hit American theaters on May 23, the film was written and directed by Boll and features Zack Ward ("Bloodrayne II," "A Christmas Story") as the notorious Postal Dude, as well as Dave Foley ("NewsRadio," "A Bug's Life"), J.K. Simmons ("Spider-Man" trilogy, "Law & Order") and Verne Troyer (the "Austin Powers" sequels). The film already saw a release overseas in Germany and Australia, racking in a meager $141,000 as of December 2007.
Now it seems that "Postal" might never hit American screens. According to Vince Desi, the major movie theater chains - namely Cinemark, AMC and Regal theaters - have not confirmed the May 23 opening. "There are three major companies that control the movie theaters in America," he states on Postal Nation. "Email them. We need to get their attention and show them that we want to see POSTAL at a theater near you. I am providing here the contact information to make it easy, so please go ahead and DO IT NOW. THANKS, THANKS, THANKS."
It should come as no surprise that the major movie theater chains would back out. Prior movies directed by Boll, especially those based on popular video games, have not produced profitable revenues. "BloodRayne," "House of the Dead" and "Alone in the Dark" were massive box office flops, and the film adaptation of Dungeon Siege called "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" came and went without so much as a whimper. And "Postal," which is based on a plotless 2D shooter that features people going "postal," promises to be his most controversial picture yet since it pokes fun at the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks among other things.
Currently Boll is working on "BloodRayne 3," "Alone in the Dark 2" and "Far Cry" while gamers and movie buffs alike (268,330 currently) frantically sign an online petition asking Boll to discontinue movie-making altogether. Last month he told FEARnet that one million signatures would convince him to stop.
So will "Postal" go directly to video? Possibly. The film's controversial shock comedy material may be enough to banish it from American screens despite Uwe Boll's name. So far the movie has earned a 3.5 out of 10 according to Rotten Tomatoes. Still, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for RWS and Postal fans if enough support is shown for the movie.
Just don't threaten to go postal.
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