Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Film: Why is nobody going to see Murderball?

I'm just waiting for it to come on DVD per my Netflix infatuation and inability to afford Ann Arbor theatres. Given that one of our UM colleagues is a wheelchair basketball bad-ass, I have to expect Murderball to kick ass.

"Murderball" is the true story of the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, and the stars are real-life paraplegic athletes. Their sport, also called quad rugby, is as much demolition derby as anything.

Ticket sales have been slow in comparison to the movie's buzz, and the distributor worries that America just isn't ready for a frank documentary -- even a really good one -- about guys in wheelchairs.

"The only explanation is that people don't want to see something about handicapped people. There is some resistance," said Mark Urman, head of the theatrical division at the New York-based THINKFilm.
Yeah, but people haven't seen handicapped people being insane athletes before either. Give this thing time for word of mouth to make it must-see. And college kids are going to be a major audience for this, and college kids can't afford to go to theaters. Patience, film makers. Patience.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yeah, but come on, the soundtrack? Ministry, Ween, and THE MOLDY PEACHES! Holla!