Here’s the pitch, and it’s a good one.
You have Samuel L. Jackson, Shaft himself, starring in a thriller about a weapons guru turned Muslim terrorist (Michael Sheen) who plants bombs in three major cities.
It’s up to Jackson’s character to get the truth out of him – somehow – before said cities go kabluey.
You’re hooked, right? Or at least a tad intrigued.
After all, these kinds of plot lines are commonplace on “24,” and that show seemed pretty successful for a whole bunch of seasons.
But we rarely see such tales play out on the big screen.
Besides, Jackson is always watchable, and he’s even better playing a loose cannon type (see “Lakeview Terrace” as exhibit A). And Sheen remains a deeply underrated talent – he even brought some laughs to the shark-jumped “30 Rock” this season.
But you won’t see “Unthinkable,” the movie in question, on the big screen.
The movie is going straight to DVD – June 15, to be precise.
Huh?
Releasing a film like “Unthinkable” during the summer movie season might be a tough call. It’s brutally competitive this time of year, although slipping an original story into the mix could be sweet counter-programming.
But why not let it loose in theaters in August, after the big blockbusters have come and gone?
It’s tough to find many reviews of “Unthinkable” on the web. This one sounds promising though, and even if the film reeks the subject matter alone should draw some crowds.
The trailer has its clunky moment when co-star Carrie-Anne Moss decries torture as being against the Constitution, and a lackey provide an equally clunky response.
But the rest looks rock solid.
Could the themes at play here – a Muslim terrorist seeking to wipe out millions – cause the industry enough agita to negate a theatrical showing?
Sounds like something a wacky conservative would blame on the lib’ral media, right? And why greenlight such a project in the first place?
But what else is in play here? What prevented this film from getting a theatrical release?
Related posts:
on 
on 
on 
on 
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I found this story on trackback from my review on the Critical Critics site, and it’s interesting – do you think there are external forces at work here? I’d like to think not…
Hmmm… using a white person for a predominately Arabic religious affiliation… sounds racist… I hope The Hollywood Reporter and LA Times get on this obvious racist casting.
Maybe it’s because of the fact that it plays a lot like a “24″ episode it got pushed to direct-to-DVD? I saw the trailer and I couldn’t anything more than, “Meh.”
Sometimes the production company looks at the final product and decides it’s not worth the expense (which isn’t insubstantial) to advertise and market to theaters.
I’m the target audience for this kind of stuff and, with that trailer, I’m pretty sure I’d pass and wait for the DVD.
So…we can have a Prince of Persia movie which changes the original game story to be an Iraq war metaphor, but a movie about actual terrorism issues and suddenly its controversial?
Apparently controversy is fine…as long as it isn’t too controversial…
I’ve had the opportunity to see the film an it was riveting – essentially what 24 aspired to be. It’s not being shown in the theaters for two reasons:
1. The Studios afraid of the Islamo-fascists’ reaction, and
Editor’s Note: SPOILER ALERT
2. It follows the conservative AND liberal methods – you get to see the results of each approach. I’m sure they want to shy away from the fact that everything Samuel L. Jackson (the conservative) says in the film is correct – proven by the final frame.
Nah – the whole thing is about the “suspension of desbelief” thing having gone done the drain. Heavens! How many pictures about tough guys saving the world in 110 minutes Hollywood expects to sell in this country? These pictures are sooooooo stupid, sop cliche, so primitive. I’m so tired of this crap, and I suspect that most people are like me – frankly, why do people still go to movies? It’s expensive, it’s generally (environment-wise) a frustrating experience, the movies are crapy and completely predictable, the hype is absurd, etc. et. Die, Hollywood, die – no regrets whatsoever. Gretchen, can I get another beer?
Probably started as a straight to video production much like the Seagal, Kilmer (who by the way has appeared in some fine straight to video thrillers the last few years) productions. I mean when was the last time Jackson had a winner at the boxoffice as a leading man, or um en as a co star.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914863/board/flat/164144125?d=164192517#164153887
this is the explanation given by one of the producers of the film
The last thing I want to do is dispel an aura of mystery and, with any luck, conspiracy, but the simple fact is money.
The company that was supposed to come up with the funds to pay for the costs of a theatrical release, around ten million dollars, went bust, half a victim of challenging economic times and maybe half regrettable management choices.
Just as with people, sometimes bad things happen to good movies.
(I don’t love that exchange in the trailer either. Don’t let it stop you from seeing the picture when Sony releases it on DVD later this month. Not that anyone with a torrent client has waited, so far as I can tell, but they’re not seeing the finished picture, with a slightly improved ending, better pacing in the first half, and a terrific score from Graeme Revell.)
And not to long ago this very movie played out in real life, minus the last blow from the hidden 4th nuke… terrorist caught in attempt to bomb downtown New York? Do you think Jackson sat around and took notes during THAT torture session, hoping to get a glimpse of what it’s really like to be associated with a no-law government.
The man with the gold makes all the rules… say’s the ruling elites. Hollywood is their perversion and main stream news casters is their mouth piece.
And Dan, great point. I watched Prince of Persia for the simple fact of revealing hidden meaning and all I found was Freemason/occult symbolism every now and again…
Do you think Four Lions will be released in the US?
It really is a shame, truly, what our late great country has come to. The socialism and corruption in Washington has finally reached our movie theaters. I completely agree with Mrs. Right and Misanthropicus. This has to do with the 0bama admin. tolerance of Islam policy(p.s. Check out 0bama’s speech about praising a comic book about tolerance of Islam, what kind of POTUS did you people elect??). It does also have to do with Hollywood’s fear of Islamo-Fascism. The same thing happened with “2012″, where they had to remove the scene with Mecca being destroyed by nature(not by man, mind you). Hollywood is a bunch of pu$$ies if you ask me, grow some balls and then the people will maybe start coming back to the movies. Or maybe its too too late. Goodbye and good riddance Hollywood AND California.
Thanks for all the passionate comments … I sent a message to the producer via the link supplied above. Perhaps I can get more information on this topic. More and more quality films are going straight to DVD these days, but what struck me about this one is that it appears to be very marketable. I recently spoke highly of “Tenure,” a comedy starring Luke Wilson. That went straight to video, and in a way I can see why. Wilson isn’t the kind of actor to guarantee a crowd, and the film’s quiet charm and sly humor isn’t easy to sell to the public.
But a taut action/thriller about a terrorist attack? What movie marketer couldn’t have a field day with that?
cftoto, the simple truth that all conservatives know well is that Hollywood liberals are cowards and sychophants more interesting in appeasing Islamic terrorists than rooting for the USA.
As far as I’m concerned they can close all the theaters and just put the movies out on DVD. (Apologies to those who sling $4 Cokes and $5 popcorn, and tear paper in half, but you’re not getting my money anymore). Movies look just fine on HDTV (especially Blu-Ray) and the cost of going to a theater (unless all you do is watch the flick) is just tooooooo f-in high.
@Ron, I feel you. But there’s nothing like the feeling of being a crowded theater and the audience is so entranced, so caught up in the action, that you can hear a pin drop. It’s fantastic, exhilarating, intense. I had that experience at the one public preview we had on Unthinkable.
It’s also great to be in a jam-packed theater with a crowd rocking with laughter, but I didn’t have that experience with Unthinkable. (smile)
I think it’s fairly obvious why it was never released in theaters. Having seen the movie (just) I can say that it is not an investigative thriller like 24, it is a feature length commentary on the use of torture as an interrogative method. We have the for, the against, we have the kind of high stakes situation that forces you to choose a side (10 million people means that you can’t just ignore it). It isn’t even a ridiculous toroture porn movie that is only realistic to the victims of psychopaths. This is a movie that could easily be happening right now, and it is not a cheery thought.
no wonder it went straight to DVD. it woulda bombed at the box office. no one is buying that bull[crap] equating Muslims with terrorism anymore. besides that, there was way too much crap. They had three days to evacuate the big metro areas, but they didn’t? They evacuated government officials only? Like who? Mayors, and City council members? LMAO
the production value was crap. 24 and csi have better production value.
no one would have gone to a theater to see this.