INDIE FILMMAKER TO THE RESCUE
AS MAJOR STUDIOS HOLD BACK BLOCKBUSTERS
The ongoing decision by major studios such as Universal, Marvel and MGM to postpone the releases of their big budget blockbusters including Fast & Furious 9, Black Widow and No Time To Die, just to name a few, has left many movie theatres with bare screens- and empty seats. Having implemented new Covid measures to ensure cinemas are safer than ever, some chains are turning to old classics and retro favorites to bring back the crowds.
But for one Las Vegas- based movie producer, the current gaps in the schedules are an opportunity for the smaller independent filmmakers who usually produce content for the DVD and VOD (Video On Demand) markets.
Ken Bressers, a Las Vegas resident and partner in Dystopian Films, has just struck deals with cinema chains including Cinemark Theatres, Marcus Theatres Malco and Starlights to screen his Las Vegas set quirky comedy Stealing Chaplin, with other chains all hungry for new audience-pleasing content surely to follow suit. The film was shot entirely in Las Vegas and featuring many local actors such as Cheryl Prater, Tom Delahunty, Bianca Katz and Wayne Newton as himself.
Producers of several independent features and the Amazon Prime vampire show Age of The Living Dead, Bressers and his two partners, Paul Tanter and Simon Phillips, were enjoying a successful festival run with Stealing Chaplin as it picked up numerous awards. As the Covid pandemic continued, major studios all started pulling their multi-million dollar titles from the upcoming schedules, so Bressers moved quickly.
“Knowing we’ve got a quality movie ready to deliver and that the theatres are drying up, we approached several theater chains directly, and they loved the idea. Beginning November 13, we will be opening in over a hundred movie theaters across six major chains, and we’re still in talks with several others.”
Stealing Chaplin is a comedy about two British con men in Las Vegas who dig up and ransom the corpse of Charlie Chaplin. It’s inspired by the true story of a pair of crooks actually exhuming and stealing the body of the silent comedy star. Ken oversaw a production starring The Soprano’s star Al Sapienza and The Patriot actor Peter Woodward. The film even includes a cameo appearance from Mr Las Vegas, Wayne Newton as himself. Stealing Chaplain is currently on theatrical release in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Now it’s coming to movie theaters in the United States and Bressers is excited for the upcoming wide release, which he believes is coming at the perfect time.
“If Charlie Chaplin taught us anything; it was that laughing in times of difficulty sometimes is the best medicine. In light of everything going on in the world at the moment, we are very pleased to be partnering with Cinemark Theatres, Marcus Theatres, Malco, Starlights and more to deliver Stealing Chaplin to an audience in need of an escape! ”
Stealing Chaplin is directed by Paul Tanter and stars Simon Phillips, Doug Phillips, Al Sapienza, Peter Woodward, Anne-Carolyn Binette, Bianca Katz and Wayne Newton, and is scheduled to be released on Friday, November 13, 2020 at participating theatres.
Check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDYlDaQKrAw
