If you were looking forward to seeing “Anonymous” next weekend (as I was), chances are those plans are not “To Be.”
The Shakespeare mystery was originally supposed to have a wide release on October 28th (around 2,500+ theaters). But just a week before the curtain is scheduled to rise, Sony has decided to cut the number of screens from 2,500 to 200-250.
According to CinemaBlend, the Sony execs believe that the film wouldn’t do well opening weekend, and that would hurt the word of mouth for what they and early reviewers are calling a great film. The studio is hoping for a strong, if limited, early box office and positive reviews in a limited number of theaters, so that a buzz for the film might grow over the coming weeks.
What makes more sense is that Sony thinks “Anonymous” isn’t great and didn’t want to see it bomb nationwide. So now the final week of October, which already lost “Johnny English Returns” (moved to this weekend) will have only three major releases: “Puss in Boots”, “In Time” and Johnny Depp’s “The Rum Diary”. “Diary” will be overshadowed by the other two, which should finish 1-2 at the box office.