As Most Studios Sit Out the Pandemic, Some Indies Are Scoring Surprise Box Office Hits

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“The Marksman” and “Unhinged” braved a turbulent box office and helped the studios and filmmakers behind them gain a foothold in Hollywood

indies pandemic unhinged marksman
"Unhinged," "Marksman" (Solstice Studios, Open Road Films)

There was a point when screenwriters Chris Charles and Danny Kravitz didn’t know if their film, the Liam Neeson thriller “The Marksman,” was even going to hit theaters after it wrapped production in the fall of 2019. The coronavirus nearly derailed release plans until Open Road Films came up with a bold move to release the film in January 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic. “When Danny and I first found out that our film was coming out in January, we were shocked. Clearly, it wasn’t what we had anticipated, but how could anyone see this coming?” Charles said. “But the more we talked with the studio and understood the release strategy, we understood how it made so much sense.

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