182 Days Until "Carol" Opens
Friday, June 19, 2015 at 6:43AM 
This screenshot from Carol lies. The first Todd Haynes movie in 8 years is opening on December 18th, not the 21st. Anyway the screenshot is pulled from new footage which is mixed in with other footage and interviews from Cannes from Film4 which you can see below
And because we're thinking about HOW VERY LONG IT IS UNTIL WE SEE CAROL here's the holiday calendar just to lament, as is our tradition, that early December is empty but late December is crowded (sigh).
THANKSGIVING
The Good Dinosaur
Victor Frankenstein
Midnight Special
DECEMBER DATES
04th Krampus (Horror Comedy)
Why is this weekend so empty?
11th In the Heart of the Sea (Ron Howard)
The Lady in the Van (that lady be Dame Maggie Smith)
Why is this weekend so empty?
18th Carol (Todd Haynes)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (aka Episode VII)
Sisters (Amy Poehler & Tina Fey)
I mean obviously Carol breaks all opening weekend box office records this weekend
23rd Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
CHRISTMAS
Two of the Hateful Eight: Demian Bichir & Kurt Russell
25th Point Break (Remake)
Concussion (Will Smith in a drama about football brain injuries)
The Hateful Eight (Tarantino's latest bloody western going the Django route)
The Revenant (Inaritu's directs Leo DiCaprio & Tom Hardy)
Snowden (Oliver Stone & Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
Joy (David O. Russell & Jennifer Lawrence)
31st Nothing scheduled yet but this is traditionally the weekend wherein sometimes great movies are sacrificed to the whims of "Oscar qualifying" contracts and get no real support from their distributor
There are still several films with major stars and/or possible critical darling appeal without US release dates: the new version of MacBeth, Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, Jean-Marc Vallée's Demolition, Luca Guadagino's A Bigger Splash, James Vanderbilt's Truth, the Lance Armstrong bio The Program and the Hank Williams bio I Saw the Light. Some of them will surely end up in December but we hope against hope that this year is light on the stupid "Oscar Qualifying" releases.
Reader Comments (12)
I thought Regression was opening in August? According to IMDb and Box Office Mojo, it's opening on August 28th.
That December 11th weekend definitely needs something added. The first weekend in December is historically where they send one mediocre/terrible film to basically die, but I don't think the next weekend is usually that empty.
Its so annoying that we have to wait until November (here in the UK) to see CAROL, after its great reception at Cannes recently, a pure Harvey Weinstein tactic to position it for the next Awards Season, it was actually filmed last year, and may be next year before a lot get to see it. I just read the book actually, as per my own comments on it:
http://osullivan60.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/a-new-mr-ripley-at-60-plus-carol-too.html
Keelay! -- thanks for correction. should have cross-checked. ComingSoon had it as Dec 31st but i see that it's been changed. Fixed.
I have no idea why Weinstein can't space their movies out a little more. Their two biggies are basically both Christmas. SO ANNOYING.
it's surprising that TWC doesn't have a Thanksgiving movie. That's the date they opened King's Speech, Artist, Philomena and Imitation Game. Are we in store for a surprise acquisition soon?
Truth is opening in October, I Saw the Light in November and Son of Saul in December according to an interview the Sony Classics presidents gave to Deadline last week.
They are also very excited about Lily Tomlin in Granda and promising a big awards push for her. You saw the movie Nathaniel, even in what looks like a crowded Actress field, is the performance (duh)/ role (range/comedic?) good enough to make some noise? Lily is such a legend, I'll root so hard for her, Rampling in 45 Years and Blanchett in Carol.
*** Grandma! Phone typo.
Jows -- i think it is but then I'm a huge Lily fan so there is fan bias. :) I mean certainly MANY lesser performances have been nominated and some have even won. and until I have specific dates I can't include them in the calendar.
I'm super curious about Midnight Special (specifically Kirsten Dunst's role in it), and the Point Break remake seems like a terrible idea. (Seriously, you don't improve on Kathryn Bigelow and its early '90s vintage.)
Honestly, why do films that already have distributors even bother debuting at Cannes or other (early in the year) film festivals if they're not going to capitalize on buzz and let the momentum die by actually hitting theaters many months and months (or even years) later? It's stupid and pointless.
Mareko -- i dont get that either. Just wait and do Venice or Toronto.
I remember watching a doc on The Exorcist, which was released the day after Christmas. Interviewees said the film was rolled out this way because executives weren't sure how to market it, so a soft opening was perceived the best way to go, and a quiet premiere date was considered best. When the box office went gonzo, observers were surprised at how well the movie was doing.
Joy (David O. Russell & Jennifer Lawrence)
December 25? What an inappropriate date for this unholy duo. Wonder how many undeserved trophies and nominations they will get this time.
Jay, hopefully this one will have an actual script--and editor.