Cinema Suicide

Hope you weren’t banking on checking out Ryhuei Kitamura’s American debut, the adaptation of Clive Barker’s gory short story, Midnight Meat Train. Word came down from Lionsgate yet again that the release date was being pushed back again, this time to coincide with the release of The Mummy 3 on August 1st but that’s not the part that sucks. For reasons that Barker doesn’t specify, the film has been relegated to a minor release of only 100 theaters. Clive Barker, whose company, Midnight Picture Show co-produced the movie, is vocally pissed about this move:

As you may or may not have heard, due to certain politics, MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN is in danger of Lionsgate not giving it a wide release. I’m asking you to please help spread the word in order for all to enjoy this film. I want to passionately encourage everybody who cares about my work to use this chance to change the minds of the folks at Lionsgate.

Anything any of you can do—be it e-mails, web postings, word of mouth and the like—to help encourage this movement would be deeply appreciated. The film is worth the effort in my mind, and I do not want to see my work fall by the wayside.

So pass it on, folks. Send an email, make a phone call, whatever you feel moved to do. Midnight Meat Train makes its premier at the upcoming Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal.

Update: To contact Lionsgate about this matter use the following contact information (please be civil and courteous, I know how you animals can be):

2700 Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Telephone (310) 449-9200
Facsimile (310) 255-3870
general-inquiries@lionsgate.com