Does Sundance, Dare We Say It, Not Matter Anymore?
It's halftime for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and while Paris plays air guitar, Mischa buys guitars, and Dennis Quaid signs guitars, Hollywood has collectively sighed after every flick being screened, save for a sad handful of standouts. But taking the fest's past few years into consideration, we're starting to grow wary of Sundance's power in both next year's Oscar race AND at the box office. So far the most exciting thing we've heard from Utah has to do with Sarah Jessica Parker and her non-comments on the most overhyped movie ever (SATC: The Movie, in case you hadn't heard), and the to-be-bomb isn't even showing there.
As Variety notes today, the mood was buzzier last year, but that didn't mean monetary gains. The Weinstein bros paid $4 mill for Grace is Gone, which went on to gross a whopping $37k. And 2007's fought-over documentary Crazy Love, about mob girlfriend Linda Riss's unconditional love for crime boss Burt Pugach in the 50s, made only $350k. A year when Sundance buzz doesn't guarantee a hit, followed by a year with no buzz at all? Kinda makes us want to go rent Hustle & Flow, the last Sundance slam dunk we can remember, and reminisce about the days when Utah madness meant something.
