Gentlemen Broncos opened last weekend in limited release; so limited, in fact, that it played in two theaters, one in New York, and one in L.A.
After seeing the movie's $11,000 box-office gross for the weekend, Fox Searchlight pulled back the wide release of this comedy from Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess. GetTheBigPicture reports Broncos won't open in Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas. Roger Ebert tweeted that the movie won't open in Chicago. And CinemaBlend received an email that revealed Dallas is out of the picture, as well most of the nation:
Unfortunately Gentlemen Broncos will not be opening in any additional markets after Friday, November 6th. All screenings, etc. have been canceled please do not include film in your calendars or reviews. Thank you.
Broncos will open in a few more theaters this weekend. Everyone else will have to wait for the Broncos DVD.
Posted 11.05.09 by Ryan The Hesses have spent their short career making eccentric comedies like Napolean Dynamite, Nacho Libre, and the upcoming Gentlemen Broncos, which opens in limited release today. The movie follows a teenager (Michael Angarano) who finds that his novel has been plagiarized by a legendary novelist (Jemaine Clement). While Jared usually directs, the married duo typically co-write the movies, bringing elements of their family and home life into the scripts. Jared told Collider that Gentlemen Broncos is so personal, even the title is taken from his childhood.
The title of the film comes from my mom, who had this really weird parenting book when I was growing up. I have five younger brothers, and it was this book, called So You Want to Raise a Boy?, written in the 1950s. There's a chapter in there where it talks about the age from 16 to 17 and the author referred to it as the gentlemen bronco phase of life, where teenage boys like to take their shirts off and mow the lawn.
Jennifer Coolidge plays Angarano's mother, who makes nightgowns and popcorn balls. Jared told Movieline that, as outrageous as it sounds, the character is based on his own mother.
The mother character in the film is based on my mother and parts of [Jerusha's] mom. My mom worked for a modest nightgown company growing up, and she also had a really great popcorn ball recipe. Her company was called Christmas's Country Corn. My mom's name is Christmas. So my brothers and I would often go with her to boutiques to sell her popcorn balls. So that's something very real.
Not that popcorn balls are the weirdest thing in Gentlemen Broncos — the movie has Sam Rockwell playing an interstellar cowboy who rides battle stags, which are deer armed with missiles. Still, that may not hold off the raised eyebrows from their family. "When our mom saw Napoleon for the first time," said Jared, "she was like, 'Well, that was a lot of embarrassing family material.'" However, both Hesses agree that their movie isn't about the quirky characters but about "underdogs" in general and "the idea of an outsider with big dreams trying to achieve what he wants to do in life, with limited social skills or means."
Sounds like something Napoleon fans can get behind.
Posted 10.30.09 by Ryan