It’s been confirmed by Variety that Warner Bros. does not plan to expand Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” beyond its November 1 theatrical rollout in just 50 theaters. So far, ‘Juror’ has only booked showings in New York, L.A. and Chicago.
Warners is also considering not reporting box office numbers for the film which only heightens the weirdness of this whole situation. Eastwood deserves better than this. It’s not even a question of whether his film up to quality standards; studios do not care if a film is good or bad, only that it will find an audience.
“Juror #2,” which is set to world premiere on Sunday at AFI Fest, was originally conceived as a streaming-only release, but Variety’s sources claim that the sudden shift to theatrical was only done after the film was screened for Warners film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
Sources claim that the film is not being seen as a major Oscar player internally at Warner Bros. Notably, “Juror #2” isn’t even featured on the company’s FYC 2024 webpage. We’ll see if their hunch turned out to be correct as first reviews for Eastwood’s film are set to drop on Sunday evening.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.