Six Days in August D.O.A.?

[I Have Questions]

The Afore has already said he thinks his film failed miserably because Mormon cinema goers are too tight to support it by buying tickets. What evidence could be presented that might convince him that people really don’t care about his latest vanity project?

Doesn't the fact that Mormon cinema goers are not buying tickets for 6DiA, regardless of the reason, not indicate at least that Mormons really don’t care enough about his latest vanity project?

Yes. But Peterson cannot accept that conclusion as it would crystallise the failure of his vanity project.

Put it another way: Mormons who are likely paying $thousands a year in tithing are apparently unwilling to fork out another $10-15 to see the movie. I'd call that pretty much unmotivated and uncaring.

They would all care if they knew about the film, or if BYU didn’t play, or if…something else.

There must be exceptions, of course, in that some tithe-paying members are so strapped for cash - or so tight - that even the best of movies could not persuade them to part with another few dollars. But is that likely to be true of the large percentage of members who are staying away?

I don’t believe Peterson paid for a ticket himself, nor did he take paying facility and friends. He was too busy on a free junket to Central America.

[Tom]

The Proprietor writes:

I’m told that Six Days in August is maybe holding on by its fingernails in a small handful of theaters. If that is true — and, right now, I don’t know for sure whether or not it is — I hope that some of you will take the opportunity to see it again, or to see it for the first time, or to take friends or neighbors or family who haven’t yet seen it.

I must confess my surprise that the film’s co-executive producer doesn’t know if his film is still playing and if so, how many theaters are showing it. Doesn’t he receive regular reports from the distributor or others on how the film is doing? Is the film playing in Parowan for the Relief Society sister and her friends to see it?

As I’ve written, I think it’s extremely important to support faith-based films—especially quality movies pertaining to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That’s why I plan to see Heretic.

[drumdude]

I doubt DCP is this knowledgeable about the cinema business, but here’s what he may be referring to.

Occasionally movie theaters will say they’re still showing a film, but not actually show it. They’ll put a more popular movie in and skim some of those profits towards the movie they are supposed to be playing.

They’ll do this when their contract obliges them to show a film but it has bombed massively and they would rather not suffer their auditoriums to be empty.

[Doctor Scratch]

Prior to the films launch…

The Afore writes that these coming days are "vitally important"! Yes, indeed! I predict that this film is going to be the biggest Mopologetic embarrassment since the "purging" of classic-FARMS from the Maxwell Institute. The concept for the movie is quite possibly the stupidest, most boring idea imaginable. I'm not normally a betting man, but if I were, I'd wager that the movie will not make back even 25% of its budget at the box office. I think that pretty much the totality of its audience has already seen it in the "sneak peaks" that happened last week or whenever it was.

On a sidenote: I see that the Afore has referred to Beto O'Rourke as a "shallow phony." Oh, my, the irony is rich indeed!

Prescient comments once again from the B. H. Roberts Chair of Mopologetic Studies. Timely as we draw close to the seasons Top Ten Happenings announcement…

Thank you for the kind words, IHAQ. But anyone with half a brain for the aesthetics of cinema should have been able to see this outcome from a mile away. The Afore is expressing bafflement over the idea that “loyal” LDS might not care about his terrible, inherently boring film, but he ought to bear in mind that 6DIA got its ass kicked by *other* LDS films at the box office. He claimed at one point that Purdie Distribution was *the* game in town for LDS movies, but they seem to have parted ways. What a shocker, right? I imagine Brandon Purdie—or others at the company—looked at this and knew immediately that it didn’t have a shot in hell of making back its production budget.

Well, hey: there have been some great films that have failed at the box office. 6DIA will never be counted among them, but they exist. Meanwhile, I will point out that, at the same time that the predictable, knee-jerk meltdowns are happening in response to Heretic, there were similar reactions from anti-defamation factions of the Italian-American community when The Godfather came out. TBMs and Mopologists are incapable of creating interesting narrative art. This is true because they are unwilling to create works that show what Faulkner called “the human heart in conflict with itself.” You will never, ever, in 1,000 years, see a Mopologist entertain the idea that the Church isn’t true, and so you will never have truly great Mormon narrative art from them.

[Tom]

I doubt DCP is this knowledgeable about the cinema business, but here’s what he may be referring to.

Occasionally movie theaters will say they’re still showing a film, but not actually show it. They’ll put a more popular movie in and skim some of those profits towards the movie they are supposed to be playing.

They’ll do this when their contract obliges them to show a film but it has bombed massively and they would rather not suffer their auditoriums to be empty.

Interesting. On that note, I see that the Proprietor has edited his post:

I’m told that Six Days in August is maybe holding on by its fingernails in a small handful of theaters. If that is true — and, right now, I don’t know for sure whether or not it is, although I believe that it’s still in five theaters — I hope that some of you will take the opportunity to see it again, or to see it for the first time, or to take friends or neighbors or family who haven’t yet seen it.

[Tom]

I doubt DCP is this knowledgeable about the cinema business, but here’s what he may be referring to.

Occasionally movie theaters will say they’re still showing a film, but not actually show it. They’ll put a more popular movie in and skim some of those profits towards the movie they are supposed to be playing.

They’ll do this when their contract obliges them to show a film but it has bombed massively and they would rather not suffer their auditoriums to be empty.

Interesting. On that note, I see that the Proprietor has edited his post:

I’m told that Six Days in August is maybe holding on by its fingernails in a small handful of theaters. If that is true — and, right now, I don’t know for sure whether or not it is, although I believe that it’s still in five theaters — I hope that some of you will take the opportunity to see it again, or to see it for the first time, or to take friends or neighbors or family who haven’t yet seen it.

I located theaters in four cities where it may be playing:

Brigham City, Utah (Walker Capitol 2)
Lethbridge, Alberta (Movie Mill)
North Ogden, Utah (Walker Cinemas 6)
Payson, Utah (Payson Stadium 8)

[Moksha]

What about A Mid-August Night's Dream a movie about what would have happened if Brigham Young had gone on tour with P.T. Barnum? That might be a hit for Interpreter Productions.

[I Have Questions]

Prior to the films launch…Prescient comments once again from the B. H. Roberts Chair of Mopologetic Studies. Timely as we draw close to the seasons Top Ten Happenings announcement…

Thank you for the kind words, IHAQ. But anyone with half a brain for the aesthetics of cinema should have been able to see this outcome from a mile away. The Afore is expressing bafflement over the idea that “loyal” LDS might not care about his terrible, inherently boring film, but he ought to bear in mind that 6DIA got its ass kicked by *other* LDS films at the box office. He claimed at one point that Purdie Distribution was *the* game in town for LDS movies, but they seem to have parted ways. What a shocker, right? I imagine Brandon Purdie—or others at the company—looked at this and knew immediately that it didn’t have a shot in hell of making back its production budget.

Is it true that Purdie (and others?) are still owed money from the Witnesses project?

[Tom]

Interesting. On that note, I see that the Proprietor has edited his post:

I located theaters in four cities where it may be playing:

Brigham City, Utah (Walker Capitol 2)
Lethbridge, Alberta (Movie Mill)
North Ogden, Utah (Walker Cinemas 6)
Payson, Utah (Payson Stadium 8)

I've now identified six theaters that may be showing the film as of November 20: four theaters in Utah, one theater in Idaho, and one theater in Alberta.

Utah

Walker Capitol 2 (Brigham City, Utah): ends November 20
Kaysville Theater (Kaysville, Utah): plays through November 28 at least
Walker Cinemas 6 (North Ogden, Utah): ends November 20
Payson Stadium 8 (Payson, Utah): ends November 21

Idaho

The Reel Theatre (Pocatello, Idaho): plays through November 28 at least

Alberta

Movie Mill (Lethbridge, Alberta): ends November 21

ETA: I'm pleased to see that the Interpreter Foundation continues to make Witnesses available for free viewing.

The Proprietor has just published a post that states: "By the way, Six Days in August is still playing in four or five theaters through this Thursday, and will survive in two more — in Pocatello and, I believe, in Kaysville — over at least this coming weekend. We’re also arranging some private showings. (My wife and I will be involved with one of those this coming weekend.) Final approval for DVDs and Blu-ray should come today, and we’re moving forward with plans for streaming the film."

I assume he's been in touch with the distributor about where the film is still playing, although I’m not sure why he seems more certain about the film continuing to play in Pocatello than in Kaysville.

[Tom]

Prior to the films launch…Prescient comments once again from the B. H. Roberts Chair of Mopologetic Studies. Timely as we draw close to the seasons Top Ten Happenings announcement…

Thank you for the kind words, IHAQ. But anyone with half a brain for the aesthetics of cinema should have been able to see this outcome from a mile away. The Afore is expressing bafflement over the idea that “loyal” LDS might not care about his terrible, inherently boring film, but he ought to bear in mind that 6DIA got its ass kicked by *other* LDS films at the box office. He claimed at one point that Purdie Distribution was *the* game in town for LDS movies, but they seem to have parted ways. What a shocker, right? I imagine Brandon Purdie—or others at the company—looked at this and knew immediately that it didn’t have a shot in hell of making back its production budget.

I hope that the Proprietor will comment on his blog about why he went with Susan Tuckett Media rather than Brandon Purdie, who “is, by universal consent, the expert on the distribution of LDS-oriented theatrical films” (using the Proprietor’s words). It’s clear that it was a mistake to release the film during BYU’s football season. Does the Proprietor view hiring Susan Tuckett Media as the film’s distributor as another mistake?