No More Mara "Magdalene" This Year
Monday, August 21, 2017 at 6:52PM 
Chris here. We've been dying to see Rooney Mara in Garth Davis's Lion follow-up Mary Magdalene ever since those set photos emerged of her smoking in costume. But unfortunately the wait is about to be longer: the Weinstein Co. just pushed the film off this year's release calendar. We suspected this news might be coming when the film wasn't showing up in any festival lineups, but now the news in confirmed.
However, this doesn't mean that Mary Magdalene is headed towards the same fate as their delayed-into-oblivion titles Suite Francaise and Tulip Fever (which will finally open wide Sept. 1 - allegedly). Weinstein Co. has simply pushed the film back to March 30, which will be appropriately timed for Easter weekend. Perhaps opening on the holiday will be a smart cash grab given the relevancy with the subject.
But the Weinstein's aren't giving up that prime November release date after the same timing worked out so well for them last year with Lion. They have now moved up the Edison/Westinghouse electricity race film The Current War to Magdalene's former November 24 date. That film plays right into the Academy's biopic sweet spot and boasts a nomination-ready ensemble that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, and Tom Holland. The financial struggles of the Weinstein Co. would likely have not been able to support the awards hopes for both, so maybe this is the best scenario for both films. Even if it means we'll have to smoke another pack with Mara Magdalene while we wait.
Reader Comments (14)
Much happier to see The Current War than Mary!
They need to money, so moving Mary to an Easter slot makes sense. If it works out for them and the movie is good they can then afford an Oscar campaign. If not, it's less skin off of their backs.
Bummer. I was curious to see this. Based off the reception some of the clips got at Cannes, it's supposed to be a mellow, hippie spin.
How many years have we complained about the blonde blue-eyed version of Christ?
We even have a term in common parlance, "whitewashing".
Now we're going to see another white guy version of the Jesus story, omg, why?
Rooney Mara played Tiger Lily, an Indian princess, but apparently the criticism for doing that didn't make a dent in her. Now she's going to play Mary Magdalene. When I look at her, I just see a one-precenter. Impervious to change, reason, common sense.
that picture is iconic
When was the last time a Biblical movie was a massive awards player? Ben-Hur?
I mean, even The Passion of the Christ, which was a massive box office juggernaut couldn't break past a few tech nods, and The Bible's crushing ratings couldn't bring Roma Downey's beautifully rendered Mary a Movie/Mini Emmy win, it seems much more logical to try and go for the money.
There is a large audience for biblical material of high quality, but awards bodies, who skew anti-Christian, don't recognize biblically themed works regardlessly of how much they overperform, so it seems like the smarter choice is to make high quality earnest (preferrably non-critical too) biblical movies and make bank on it, without any concern for awards.
Carmen: If you're talking "last time something Bible related would have been in the top 6-10"? I'd guess Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ would have managed it, but that's about it. And as for The Passion and Roma Downey's The Bible? The Passion is Saw for the Religious and NOTHING was beating Behind the Candelabra, so I think the nomination is honour enough.
@adri i'm with you on this one. i just can't with this movie. how can the film industry be so tone-deaf, really.
i'm a big fan of mara's - i still remember walking out of the social network thinking who was that one actress, and of course in carol - but i can't support this type of casting. it's 2017, y'all.
How is Benedict Cumberbatch still a thing? Ick.
The Current War could be interesting but given the writer's and director's previous credits (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl...ugh, just no. Even that title: no), I'm not too hopeful. Could be bland, generic, "important" Oscar bait.
I agree that Cumberbatch is just ICK!
DJDeeJay: It definitely is JUST that. The writer was behind that The Giver movie, the director you've laid out, and the focus is terrible. Edison v. Tesla would have been a MOVIE. Edison v. Westinghouse is a cop-out.
Volvagia - Roma Downey wasn't even nominated for actress and her performance should make her a contender for the win, that was my point, I just phrased it poorly (sorry, English is my third language).
Regarding Passion, the notion that it is Saw for the religious is exactly the type of reductive anti-Christian or anti-religion sentiment that permeates film criticism. Opinions aside, it is a fact that the movie was a juggernaut and does not fit, by any criteria, the mold of a blockbuster. It's a subtitled movie, mostly in Aramaic, with non-linear narrative and honest depiction of true violence and what it does to the human body. It also happens to be, at large, a historical event, to the extent in which, at some point in history, some innocent dude was flailed, whipped and crucified. Here in the Middle East, people still get flailed and whipped for harmless offenses, such as consensual intercourse with someone of the same sex or consensual premarital sex. Now opinion again, i.e., mine: the movie is expertly executed and leaves ample room for discussion of relevant contemporary topics such as religion, violence, martyrdom, mob mentality, antisemitism, crime and punishment. I (non-religious person) see it is a great piece of provocative art. I would rank it higher than Million Dollar Baby or the Aviator (the two BP contenders) anytime. And if you are TRULY religious, some of the stuff in the movie comes from latter scriptures and saint visions, so you can have a merry ole time debating its Biblical accuracy.
But still, even if it were only religious people, they are entitled too to their perception of what is high art and the fact that such a undenying success (still the highest grossing non-English language film of all time), by a pedigree director (previous Oscar winner who recently returned to the fold with a movie just as bloody) could make barely any dent at being a major awards player in any awards body exposes a major blindside to the topic of faith ad religion, as well as the complete lack of intellectual diversity (the one diversity no one cares about).
@Volvagia - I thought it was Edison vs. Tesla? That very brief plot description on IMDB is dubious, methinks.