Indie films often start hitting theaters in green cities.
If the audience comes to see more and more, the studios will expand the movies to theaters nationwide. It’s an effective strategy that relies on word of mouth to attract interest.
The roadside attraction chose a different release strategy for “Call Jane,” and it makes sense on paper.
The film stars Elizabeth Banks as a 60s woman seeking an abortion due to a life-threatening medical complication. The story is fictitious but connected with Janes in real lifean underground network that helped secure illegal abortions of the era.
“Call Jane” is the clear support choice, one of many recent films that have debated abortion.
And, given that the 2022 Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade a few months ago, the growing craving for “Call Jane” should be as strong as possible. Why not release the drama the day before the midterm elections?
Except very few people came to see the movie over the weekend. That’s a way of saying it.
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The film only grossed $243,922 at the box office from over 1,000 theaters. It’s not a wide release in the traditional sense, but it’s a lot more than most indie films get.
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” an Oscar spinoff that opened in just 58 theaters on October 28, has earned more than double what “Call Jane” made.
You can’t blame the lack of a sense of the outcome. “Call Jane” has attracted a lot of media attention. The New York Times for co-stars Sigourney Weaver a large profile feature attached to the project.
Likewise, banks were also photographed close-ups by the New York Times along with a featured Vanity Fair story.
Planned Parenthood also uses significant influence to promote the film.
The film and its partners, including America’s Planned Parenthood Federation – also acted as collaborators on the film to ensure it reflects the realities of barriers to abortion access – and the KeepOurClinics campaign .org of the Abortion Care Network, will screen Phyllis Nagy -based on the film with dozens of US clinics.
Banks and Weaver worked late night pulseand the respective presenters also echoed their presentations about the movie’s real-world meaning.
This couple also created a joint appearance on “The View,“Another clever marketing move by the program is tracking progress.
Perhaps “Call Jane” could have resonated with audiences if it had hit theaters so close to the Roe v. Wade. Instead, the film comes as proof of a growing red election wave and that voters are slowly coming to terms with that reality.
Or, the conventional wisdom that abortion would be the Democrats’ best bet against the GOP’s arguments in the first place has never made much of an impact.
The film’s commercial failure is another sign that Democrats may have to worry about coming November 8.
