‘Juror No. 2’ Could Be Clint Eastwood’s Last Film — So Why Is Warner Bros. Burying It?

As a seasoned movie critic with over three decades of experience under my belt and countless red carpets trodden upon, I must say that the story surrounding Clint Eastwood’s latest film, “Juror #2,” leaves me feeling more like a juror than a critic – confused and somewhat disheartened.

At the end of its 38th run, the longest-running film festival in Los Angeles, AFI Fest, will conclude this Sunday with the global debut of Clint Eastwood’s movie “Juror #2.” The event will take place at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Actors Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and Zoey Deutch are expected to grace the red carpet for this special occasion. This marks AFI Fest’s fourth world premiere of a film directed by Clint Eastwood. The courtroom drama is Eastwood’s 40th directorial project, making it his 40th movie as a director. At 94 years old, it could be his final directorial effort.

Four days from now, Juror #2 will receive a less prominent screening by Warner Bros. The movie is set for a restricted release in under 50 cinemas, as per two sources familiar with the film’s distribution, with no immediate intentions to broaden its screenings to additional locations in the near future.

As of now, a week before its premiere, “Juror #2” has announced showtimes at four different theaters in New York City, five in Los Angeles, and one in Chicago. In the 25 most populated cities across the nation, the film is only available for pre-sale in less than 25 locations. Cineplex, Canada’s main cinema chain, will be screening the movie at a single theater in Toronto and 160 venues nationwide. Generally, independent films rarely expand beyond a few theaters, but it’s uncommon for major studio releases like Warner Bros., such as “Juror #2”. In comparison to other films vying for awards during the season, like “Anora” and “The Brutalist”, which were produced on smaller budgets, “Juror #2” will likely be shown in significantly fewer cinemas.

As a movie enthusiast, I’m thrilled to share that “Juror #2” is hitting the screens in the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and Germany! This announcement comes with Warner Bros.’ hearty endorsement. The global premiere of this film will take place at the AFI Film Festival this coming weekend. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen!

Information obtained by EbMaster indicates that Warner Bros. might choose not to disclose the box office earnings of their upcoming movie, which is unusual for a conventional Hollywood studio, although it’s not entirely unheard of. In a similar move earlier this year, Disney kept the box office figures for Daisy Ridley’s biographical sports drama “Young Woman and the Sea” confidential, releasing the film in select cinemas without revealing its earnings. Two weeks later, the movie became available on Disney+. This strategy appeared strange to those who took notice: a hybrid release approach for a film initially intended for exclusive streaming, but moved to theaters following successful testing. Some speculated that the screening allowed “Young Woman and the Sea” to meet the qualifications for Oscar nominations, but this seems incidental considering the film didn’t receive the necessary promotional push for a serious contender in award categories.

As a passionate cinephile, I’ve been closely following the developments of “Juror #2.” Initially planned as a streaming premiere, it was later decided to hit the big screen instead, based on the film’s impressive performance during previews. Produced within a budget of approximately $30 million, it’s set for a limited release next week, primarily for Oscar qualification purposes. However, insiders at Warner Bros., where I often catch my favorite films, have shared that “Juror #2” isn’t seen as a significant contender for the Oscars internally. Interestingly, the film doesn’t appear on their FYC 2024 webpage. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Clint Eastwood hasn’t been an awards frontrunner since his masterpiece “American Sniper” garnered six nominations in 2015. Since then, only two recognitions have followed: for sound editing in “Sully” (2017) and Kathy Bates in the supporting actress category for “Richard Jewell” (2020).

As a devoted cinephile, I find it intriguing that Clint Eastwood’s low-key release strategy for “Juror #2” seems unusual, especially considering his proven commercial success. For instance, “American Sniper,” released in 2014, was the highest-grossing domestic film of its year. His subsequent films, such as “Sully” and “The Mule,” also amassed over $100 million at North American box offices.

After the release of his latest film, “Cry Macho,” in 2021, it appears Warner Bros., the studio Eastwood has collaborated with for over five decades, is reassessing their partnership due to the movie’s underperformance at the box office. The Western drama, where Eastwood played a former rodeo star seeking redemption in Mexico while directing himself, earned only $16.5 million worldwide against a production cost of $33 million. The film faced difficulties, debuting during the early stages of cinema’s post-pandemic recovery and also had a simultaneous streaming release on Max (formerly HBO Max), like other Warner Bros. films that year.

At the studio, there was disagreement about the poor performance of the movie “Cry Macho,” which had received mixed reviews. This disagreement occurred as the studio was adjusting its strategy following the merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. In May 2022, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that the new CEO, David Zaslav, questioned why “Cry Macho” was made, since film leaders admitted they had doubts about whether the movie could make a profit. Essentially, the CEO said, “It’s not about entertainment, it’s about business.

Despite the initial disagreements, Eastwood was once again in Warner Bros.’ good books by April 2023, as they approved the production of “Juror #2” under Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy’s leadership. These two were appointed to head the WB film division back in the summer before. However, it seems that the studio is not overly optimistic about the movie’s market success.

In the current landscape, that’s apparently as good as it gets.

2024-10-24 22:47

‘Juror No. 2’ Could Be Clint Eastwood’s Last Film — So Why Is Warner Bros. Burying It?

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