Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the film industry, particularly the theatrical distribution side of things. And we’ve seen this with blockbusters that were scheduled to arrive in theaters being pushed until later this year or even into 2021. However, it’s not just blockbusters that are being affected, as was recently explained by filmmaker David Lowery.
In a new episode of The A24 Project podcast, the ‘Ghost Story’ filmmaker spoke about his upcoming release, “The Green Knight,” which has been greatly affected by the ongoing global pandemic. Lowery explained that “The Green Knight” was originally going to premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival but with that event’s cancellation and the sudden closure of most theaters in the US, the release of his latest film is completely up in the air. Will it be a theatrical release, as originally intended? Will “The Green Knight” get a release on VOD? Don’t look at Lowery for answers to those questions.
“No one knows. That’s the case with everything at the moment. No one knows anything,” said Lowery. “All I can say is that at some point audiences will see it. And they’ll see it in the best way possible, given the circumstances. Hopefully, that’s in theaters. Hopefully, theaters survive. I’m a big-time defender of the theatrical experience, and one of the things I love about A24 is that they are as well.”
However, if the film is destined for a VOD release, the filmmaker is okay with that, as he’d rather have his film be released on demand than not released at all.
“If I were just an audience member and I’ve been stuck at home for six months and I wanted to see a new movie, I’d rather see it at home than not see it at all. So I’m confident that it’ll be seen soon, but ‘soon’ is variable,” he explained.
That being said, there is a silver lining to this whole situation for Lowery. He also said that the fact that he didn’t have to rush to turn in a cut by SXSW in March wasn’t such a bad thing.
“We were really rushing to try to get done by SXSW, and the movie, if we showed it there, would not have been fully finished. It would have been close, but not quite done,” said the filmmaker. “If we had to release the movie tomorrow, it would be pretty close to where it needs to be. But we’re able to take a breather and sit with it.”
So, will “The Green Knight” hit VOD next month or theaters six months from now? No one knows. But at least we’re confident that when it does, Lowery will have had plenty of time to get the film exactly how he wants it.