Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!lsuc!pesnta!pyramid!ut-sally!topaz!caip!daemon From: CS.MCGRATH@R20.UTEXAS.EDU@caip.RUTGERS.EDU Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: Runaway Message-ID: <1210@caip.RUTGERS.EDU> Date: Wed, 5-Feb-86 23:53:33 EST Article-I.D.: caip.1210 Posted: Wed Feb 5 23:53:33 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 6-Feb-86 20:09:17 EST Sender: daemon@caip.RUTGERS.EDU Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 23 From: Tim McGrath Sorry to bother the net, but I can't use the original sender's address. I wasn't enthusiatic about the film `Runaway' (I felt than the SF was im- plausible and the plot ridiculous), but I believe that the film was in the theatres around Christmas '84; it disappeared after only a few weeks. It's common for a movie not to go into general release. The studio bean-counters cancel a movie's distribution when they feel that promotion and release costs will be more than box-office income (ie, they will lose less money by just sitting on the film). Unfortunately, the `quality' of the film has nothing to do the decision to release it. Terry Gilliam's `Brazil' very nearly met this fate, except for some extraordinary measures taken by Gilliam. It's cheaper to release the film through video cassettes and cable than to release the film to theatres; studios try to recoup their losses in these ways. -- Tim McGrath [CSNet and ARPA: CS.MCGRATH@UTEXAS-20.ARPA] -------