Shot in foot: You have probably heard by now that, in an extremely unusual move, a movie theatre in Salt Lake City canceled the scheduled run of “Brokeback Mountain.”
The theatre - the poetically named Megaplex 17 - is owned by car dealer Larry H. Miller, and the movie’s run was canceled, of course, because “Brokeback Mountain” is a love story about two ranch hands who fall in love.
What you may not know is that while “Brokeback Mountain” was canceled at the Megaplex 17, it played at three other SLC theatres where it did strong business. According to Box Office Mojo:
On the four-day New Year’s frame, Brokeback Mountain earned $46,300 at the Broadway, landing among the top nationwide per-screen averages that weekend. For the weekend ending Jan. 8, the movie took in $18,823 there, still No. 1 in the complex… At the Century 16, Brokeback Mountain was also No. 1 with $12,741.
While Miller cancelled “Brokeback Mountain” assumedly on moral grounds, he had apparently no problems with “Hostel,” a (het) sex-drenched, violent horror film, for which the theatre grossed about $10,000 over the weekend.
As noted, theatre operators rarely cancel movie runs. A rep for Focus Features, the distributors of “Brokeback Mountain,” sounded outraged:
“It’s the most despicable practice that any exhibitor can do,” Focus’ head of distribution, Jack Foley, told Box Office Mojo. “It was a flagrant dismissal of a commitment, and without even a phone call. So I’m not in business with him anymore. It’s a breach of contract. It’s unethical. We can sue him.”
While a cynical observer might note that Larry Miller’s violation of his contract with Focus Features is part of a larger picture - that conservativism has a corrupting effect on its adherents that makes them put their own judgments and benighted moral positions above the law - why not focus on the positive: All the ink given this one cancellation out of 484 theatres nets out to be more free publicity for the film.
This leaves us with a win-win for the movie - nobody in Salt Lake City who wanted to see “Brokeback Mountain” was prevented from seeing it and the distributor got a lot of free publicity - and a loss Larry Miller, who lost ticket sales to other theatres in his market and comes off looking a big ol’ homophobe.
