AFI, Los Angeles’ longest-running film festival, will conclude its 38th edition Sunday evening with the world premiere of Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” at the historic TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette and Zoey Deutch will walk the red carpet, marking the festival’s world premiere of a film directed by Eastwood. The courtroom drama is the director’s 40th directorial effort — and given he’s 94, it’s likely his last.
Four days later, Warner Bros. “Juror No. 2” receives somewhat less distinguished treatment. The studio is rolling out this feature It is in limited release to fewer than 50 theaters, according to two sources familiar with the film’s distribution, with no current plans to expand to more locations in the following weeks.
While the exact tally of locations is still being finalized, as it’s still one week away from opening day, “Juror No. 2” currently lists showtimes at four locations around New York City, five in the Los Angeles area and one in Chicago. Across the nation’s 25 most populous cities, the film lists presales at fewer than 25 locations. Cineplex, Canada’s leading exhibitor chain, is opening the film in just one theater in Toronto and 160 venues nationwide. Although many independent films never expand beyond a few theaters, that is less common for releases from major Hollywood studios like Warner Bros. As it currently stands, “Juror #2” will play in significantly fewer theaters than other awards season releases like “Anora,” “Anora” and “Juror #2.” “The Brutalist,” which was produced on lower budgets, but would eventually be shown on thousands of screens.
“Juror #2 is being released in the US, UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany with the full support of Warner Bros.,” a studio spokesperson said. “The film will have its worldwide premiere at the AFI Film Festival this weekend.”
Sources say diverse That Warner Bros. It is considering under-reporting the film’s box office earnings — an unusual practice for a traditional Hollywood studio, though not unprecedented. Earlier this year, Disney showed Daisy Ridley’s biographical sports drama “Young Woman and the Sea” in an undisclosed number of theaters and elected against a revenue release. Two weeks later, the film debuted on Disney+. The decision seemed strange to the few who noticed: a half-measure release of a film that was originally commissioned as an exclusive online streaming release, but was turned into a theatrical release after it tested highly. Some have suggested that the release means “Young Woman and the Sea” has met the Academy’s qualifications to be considered for Oscar nominations, but that seems coincidental given that the film has not received the promotional push required for a serious awards contender.
Similarly, “Juror #2” was originally intended as a streaming release, as first reported by Puck and confirmed by a source. The studio turned to theatrical release after releasing the film, which was produced on a budget in the $30 million range. While next week’s limited edition will serve as a qualifying round for the awards, Sources say diverse That the film was not viewed as a major player in the Oscars internally at Warner Bros. Notably, “Juror #2” did not appear on the company’s roster FYC 2024 webpage. It’s not entirely unexpected, given that Eastwood hasn’t proven to be an awards player since “American Sniper” earned six Oscar nominations in 2015. Only two nominations followed: sound editing for “Sully” in 2017, and Kathy Bates in supporting . Actress “Richard Jewell” in 2020.
However, the silent presentation of “Juror No. 2” remains an odd approach for a filmmaker who still has commercial appeal. “American Sniper” was the highest-grossing domestic release of 2014. Two Eastwood films, “Sully” and “The Mule,” have grossed more than $100 million in North America. But in the contemporary theatrical landscape, which has been severely shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, studios view original dramas that skew adults as riskier theatrical prospects than they did five years ago.
Warner Bros., the studio with which Eastwood has collaborated for more than 50 years, appears to be re-evaluating its relationship with the director after the release of his latest feature film, “Cry Macho,” in 2021. That Western drama, which saw a precocious Eastwood directing himself As a former rodeo star finds redemption south of the border, it was a failure at the box office, grossing $16.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $33 million. The film faced daunting challenges, releasing in a theatrical landscape still in the early months of recovery from pandemic lockdowns. It also received a simultaneous debut with the day-and-date launch on Max (then titled HBO Max), as did the rest of the Warner Bros. franchise. Theatrical list that year.
The poor performance of the lukewarmly-reviewed “Cry Macho” has allegedly emerged as a point of contention at the studio, amid a strategy shift in the wake of WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, Inc. In May 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported New CEO David Zaslav questioned why “Cry Macho” was being made after the film’s management admitted they had doubts the film could turn a profit. “It’s not a show for friends, it’s a business show,” the executive was quoted as saying.
However, Eastwood returned to Warner Bros. Good luck come April 2023, when the studio greenlights “Juror No. 2” under Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi, who were hired to lead WB’s film division the previous summer. But now it seems the studio doesn’t have much confidence in the film’s commercial prospects. A source close to Warner Bros. says: The decision to release “Juror #2” in theaters represents a gesture of gratitude toward Eastwood, who has earned the company billions in box office revenue, as well as numerous awards, for films such as “Unforgiven” and “Million Dollar Baby.” But is a limited release in a few places an adequate distribution plan for an industry icon that has remained loyal to the studio for decades?
In the current landscape, this seems to be the best it can get.
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