Sony Pictures Gives Roland Emmerich's Anonymous a Limited Release
Posted October 20, 2011 11:54 AM by Josh Katz
In a sudden announcement, Sony Pictures has decided to give Roland Emmerich's Anonymous a limited release. Best known for his work on grand-scale disaster pictures like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012, Emmerich has used the historical conspiracy thriller to tell the story of Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans, Mr. Nice).
Anonymous posits that De Vere, under the influence of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex Rebellion, actually authored playwright William Shakespeare's celebrated dramas.
Initially, the studio had planned to give Anonymous a wide opening on thousands of theaters next Friday - October 28th - but yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Sony reduced the film's premiere to only 250 theaters throughout major U.S. cities. According to early tracking reports, audience interest in the film was not high, and analysts were predicting an opening gross of only $5 million.
Under this new release strategy, Sony hopes to first foster word-of-mouth buzz and then slowly expand the number of screenings across the country as a means of maximizing return investment. As Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution president, remarked, "We love the picture and think it's going to get great word of mouth...[and] we're committed to expanding it until it plays wide."