There is no reason to cower and hide frustration with your local government. It is perfectly okay to be upset that lockdowns are happening, and that movie theaters are still shut down, with no concrete plan about when they’ll actually reopen. Don’t let anybody shame you in thinking otherwise, it is your given right to express your discontent towards this matter.
So, please, Twiteratti wokesters, give ”Ammonite” director Francis Lee a break, he’s directed the most buzzed unseen movie of 2020. Ever since “Ammonite” was selected to be part of Cannes’ non-existent 2020 edition, there has been persistent hype surrounding Lee’s film. And yet, Lee has been holding out hope, probably praying, that “Ammonite,” starring Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet, will have its world premiere at a physical event. In a now-deleted tweet, Lee has expressed his frustrations with the whole matter, leading some to believe that his Oscar-buzzed film may have in the end finally been sold to a streamer.
He tweeted, “I made a film. A film to be seen in a cinema, on the big screen, in the dark, with wonderful sound and an audience. This is why I made the film the way I made it. I can’t not be fucked off right now.”
Rumor has HULU and NEON teaming up to distribute the film later this fall. Of course, at the moment, it’s all just hearsay, but it would make sense for “Ammonite” to go straight to streaming as the fall movie season is starting to look more and more like a cinematic wasteland and an industry resurgence may very well be paused until after the November election and into 2021.
Of course, “Ammonite” was recently selected as part of TIFF, so a big-screen premiere isn’t out of the question. The Toronto festival has designated its first five days to be public screenings and one can imagine “Ammonite” playing a big part in one of those days, but I have been hearing that the physical edition of TIFF may as well be in jeopardy and the festival’s organizers will probably make a decision on the matter in the coming weeks.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.