That creepy, guerilla, noir film shot at Disney World is (probably) coming to a theater/living room near you
Back in February, every movie nerd on the planet was geeking out over Randy Moore's Escape From Tomorrow. The black-and-white film was shot guerilla-style at Disney World and Disneyland. Moore and company used iPhones to coordinate takes and pretended to be families simply filming their vacations.
Back in February, every movie nerd on the planet was geeking out over Randy Moore's Escape From Tomorrow. The black-and-white film was shot guerilla-style at Disney World and Disneyland. Moore and company used iPhones to coordinate takes and pretended to be families simply filming their vacations.
After three years of work, the resulting film lit Sundance on fire, even causing Hitfix's Drew McWeeny to posit that, "Disney's lawyers are probably climbing onto helicopters and planning a raid on Park City right now."
Basically, the film follows a guy on vacation with his family. On his last day at the Disney resorts, the man's boss calls and fires him. When the guy takes his son to the Magic Kingdom later that day, they frequently cross paths with two French teens who perk the man's interest as the park, its rides, and Disney characters begin to take an ominous and sinister form.
There was much speculation that Disney would squash the film before it ever left Sundance, but, now, it appears that Escape From Tomorrow is set to hit theaters and cable boxes near you. According to The Los Angeles Times, Escape From Tomorrow should be made available on October 11th.
Randy Moore's black-and-white Surrealist feature will be released commercially by PDA, the distribution offshoot of the sales and management company Cinetic Media, on Oct. 11, according to a PDA spokesman. It will play on movie-theater screens in many of the nation's top markets as well as be made available day-and-date on cable VOD, the spokesman said.
PDA has a history of releasing bold fare, previously bringing out the Banksy-themed art-world meditation "Exit Through the Gift Shop" in 2010 and the doc hit "Senna," about the late Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, two summers ago. Cinetic, which previously represented the movie's distribution rights, had garnered interest from distributors but ultimately decided it would attempt to bring the movie to market via PDA.
Disney has yet to respond to the news publicly, though speculation seems to indicate that the company's only option, at this point, would be to inundate the distributor with legal claims to try to squash the immediate release, which would only create a bigger buzz around the cult film.
Disney has yet to respond publicly to the movie. The film has secured so-called E&O insurance, which protects distributors against liabilities, and legal experts have moreover said that Disney would have a weak case if it tried to stop it or collect damages--though the company could still decide to try to bog the release down in lawsuits, a move that no doubt would also fuel publicity for the film.
Mark your calendars, people. [L.A. Times]