Sony Pictures Classics will be a last-minute addition to CinemaCon later this month, joining a new showcase presentation on April 13 alongside the faith-based distributor Angel and French distributor StudioCanal.
SPC will be filling in a slot left behind by recently launched distributor Row K, which is suffering from financial issues after less than a year in operation and from the departure of president Megan Colligan and chief marketing officer Ben Carlson.
The studio’s first release, Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire,” reportedly cost Row K $10 million in acquisition and marketing but only grossed $2.5 million worldwide. With debts mounting and several films like Maude Apatow’s “Poetic License” having their releases delayed, Row K pulled out of CinemaCon earlier this week.
Sony Pictures Classics, which recently released the Oscar-nominated dramedy “Blue Moon” starring Ethan Hawke, recently acquired several films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival for release later this year, including Noah Segan’s crime thriller “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” starring John Turturro and the sex comedy “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” starring Zoey Deutch.
“We are excited to welcome Sony Pictures Classics to the inaugural CinemaCon Film Showcase as they bring audiences the kind of films that are essential to the future of exhibition,” says Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of Cinema United. “Our industry succeeds when there is something for everyone, and the diverse slate offered by Sony Pictures Classics is a prime example of that. Many thanks to Tom and Michael for their decades of support for the theatrical exhibition industry and their support of CinemaCon.”
SPC will take the stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas hours before its parent company, Sony Pictures, which is expected to show new trailers and sneak peek footage of upcoming films like “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Resident Evil,” and “The Social Reckoning.”
Sony Pictures Classics’ addition to CinemaCon was first reported by Variety.