Gerard Butler’s ‘Greenland’ Will Give Theaters a Pass
The comet-disaster flick starring Gerard Butler will not make an impact across cinemas in the U.S. This comes as not much of a surprise, considering how even a highly-anticipated film like Tenet received lukewarm response in the U.S. box-office. Aside from Tenet and a couple of films who are brave enough to paddle through a rough film-business landscape, more and more movies are fleeing 2020 altogether, and those who are still not planning to do so are left with shaky feet. Which, is why films with much more conservative budgets like Greenland are reevaluating their strategies and switching to VOD.
Slashfilm digs out Greenland from a list of Amazon’s upcoming titles in October, and while STX Films has yet to make any official update regarding the release of Greenland, it is hard to dispute that the trajectory of the film’s release is firmly pointing towards Amazon Prime Video. Greenland will be available to buy on Amazon Prime from as early as October 13th, and will be subsequently available for rent from October 27th onwards.
It is only fair to mention that Greenland did not abandon its theatrical release right from the start. The film was originally planned to hit the theaters on June 12th, 2020, but was unfortunately pushed back several times before reaching the last scheduled date of September 25th. Still, that did not materialize, and now, fans of Gerard Butler and disaster-thrillers in the U.S. have to catch up with Greenland via Amazon Prime Video instead.
Despite being subjected to delays and possible uncertainties in the U.S., Greenland managed to open theatrically in a number of countries in Europe and Asia Pacific, and was released as early as July 29th, 2020 in Belgium. A quick visit to Box Office Mojo reveals that at the time of writing, Greenland has already raked-in over $17.6 million in box-office from international releases, which is a rather respectable amount if you put it side-by-side with the film’s modest budget of around $34 million.
Greenland sees Butler joining hands with a familiar director — Ric Roman Waugh. Waugh directed Angel Has Fallen which debuted last year, featuring Butler at the helm of the casts as framed U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Bannings, a role which is pretty much synonymous with the Has Fallen series, as well as Butler’s name. Now, Angel Has Fallen is definitely not the best offering in the series, and it bugs me to notice that Waugh had access to around $40 million of production budget for the film, which still topples Greenland‘s reserves. I am just hoping that the involvement of co-producer Basil Iwanyk (Sicario, John Wick) in Greenland would set the course straight for the film in relation to Angel Has Fallen. If you need a quick refresh on what Greenland is about, check out the synopsis below:
A family fights for survival as a planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary. Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet’s fragments, the Garrity’s experience the best and worst in humanity while they battle the increasing panic and lawlessness surrounding them. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.
Originally published at https://www.thefilmaddict.com on October1, 2020.
