In a development noted on several horror sites, not the least of which are Shock and BD.com, it appears that Lionsgate is indeed opening the oft-shuffled adaptation of Clive Barker's The Midnight Meat Train on roughly 100 screens this Friday. However, all currently-posted showtimes are at second-run theaters -- otherwise known as dollar theaters, although it never seems to be that cheap anymore, not even on Tuesdays.
In my neck of the woods, one theater has it booked for two evening shows a day, for an engagement that I'm willing to bet will last only one week. The last time I remember a first-run film being shown at this theater, it was the Weinsteins' Feast, although that usually neglectful studio did so as part of a clear strategy to boost general awareness of that movie before its DVD release a month later (and wouldn't you know it, that wasn't a bad flick at all).
Despite all the fuss between Barker and the studio and the frequent release date changes, Scott saw it at Comic-Con and really dug it, and he doesn't seem to be alone among the genre gurus, which leads one to wonder just why Lionsgate would go to such curious lengths to so poorly fulfill a contractual obligation when it seems that fans might, y'know, actually turn out and pay full price to get the grisly goods. (On the flip side, at least it'll hit more cities than Pathology or Rogue did when they were similarly dumped.)
What do you guys think? Are you still interested in catching the film, and if so, do you find yourself inconvenienced by this odd distribution tactic?
1. Oh, I'm definitely interested in catching the Train, but this is more than an inconvenience considering I can't find a single theater within 40 miles showing it. Even the E Street in DC showed Zombie Strippers. This is ridiculous.
Posted at 1:54PM on Jul 31st 2008 by Peter Hall