Chris Evan's sci-fi film "Snowpiercer" opened in American cinemas this weekend with an eight-theater screening, following a sold-out pre-launch event in Austin. Deadline reports that the climate change visionary movie grossed over $162,000, averaging at about $20,000 from its weekend run. This includes the $4,490-take from a midweek event in Austin, where movie-goers got to ride a train outside the capital along with the movie's screening.
The $40 million movie has already earned $80 million worldwide, mainly in South Korea according to Indie Wire. The critically-praised Korean director Bong Joon-ho attended the screening at Brooklyn's BAMcinemaFest. The movie was also shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in Manhattan.
Prior to the release, TWC (the company that initially bought the US rights to the film before being handed over to its subsidiary, RADiUS) had wanted Bong to trim 20 minutes from the movie, which the director refused to do. The Boston Globe reports TWC's planned wide release was canned due to the film's "dark tone, often brutal violence, and general creative weirdness." Secondhand reports also suggest that TWC feared viewers from Iowa and Oklahoma would not be able to understand the movie.
Despite TWC's apprehension however, "Snowpiercer" raked in critical praise from reviewers and movie-goers alike. It earned a 93% rating from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes (and 75% from audience reviews) and an 83 from Metacritic.
"There's no stopping this train," Deadline reports RADiUS' co-president Tom Quinn as saying on Sunday. "With some of the best reviews of the year and incredibly strong word-of-mouth, we're looking forward to a robust holiday expansion."
"Snowpiercer" stars Chris Evans as one of the few surviving people kept safe in a bullet train that perpetually runs around an Ice Age-plunged Earth. He is joined by an impressive ensemble of internationally acclaimed stars such as Tilda Swinton, Song Kang-ho, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, and Ed Harris.
