Justin Berfield 'Romance and Cigarettes' [Trailer] [In Select Theaters] [DVD Release]

Ryebeach

Moderator
With all the star power in that clip, I'm stunned this movie didnt have a major theatrical release.

I was quite surprised as well. One of the reasons that it didn't is that the film was originally set to be released in theaters in the US by United Artists. Around the time the theatrical release was being planned, the parent company of UA, MGM, was bought by Sony. After that, there was some confusion, which led to a legal matter, as to which company, MGM or Sony, held the rights to distribute the film in the US. It was released in theaters in the UK and other countries.

Finally, in the US, the film was finally released in theaters this fall at the expense of its director, John Turturro.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Why would it matter which company had the rights if they were technically owned by the same company anyway after the acquisition?
 

Ryebeach

Moderator
Why would it matter which company had the rights if they were technically owned by the same company anyway after the acquisition?

Two reasons, really. 1). UA, the actual company that was to distribute the film, ceased to exist when Sony bought MGM (it has since been revived and is now run by Tom Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner) and 2) Sony didn't buy MGM outright, it was part of a consortium which purchased it. As Sony didn't wholly own MGM, it made it very difficult to get previous UA films released because they didn't automatically become Sony's property.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Well that sounds like a bit of a mess. Why didn't someone think of that before the transaction went through!
 
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