By most accounts, "127 Hours" is one of the best movies of the year, appearing on hundreds of critics' Top 10 lists and Oscar predictions.
And yet, getting people to sit through the Fox Searchlight survival drama has been an excruciating experience.
"127 Hours" has struggled at the box office, where it's grossed just under $10 million in limited release (the production budget was nearly twice that). Granted, the film hasn't played in more than 433 theaters at any given time, but Fox Searchlight has had success in past years with modest platform releases, which makes "127 Hours'" difficulty in finding an audience even more surprising.
See slideshow: Hollywood's Hard Cuts — "127 Hours" Not First Film to Amputate
Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's first film since "Slumdog Millionaire" stars the very of-the-moment James Franco and was nominated for three Golden Globes (though not Best Picture), three Independent Spirit Awards and a SAG Award. It boasts a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an impressive score of 82 on the more discerning Metacritic.
And yet, that cutting-off-the-arm thing.
Clearly, some folks just can't get past it, making "127 Hours" a very difficult marketing challenge (a spokesperson for Fox Searchlight told TheWrap that no one was available for comment over the holidays.)
The movie's marketers have met that notion head-on, with T-Shirts sporting the slogan "I Kept My Eyes Open For 127 Hours."
Even Franco has been a good sport about promoting the film, releasing a Funny or Die video over the weekend in which the actor introduces his kindly grandmother who — while wearing the T-shirt — calls everyone who's too afraid to see the film "A bunch of pussies" (to great comedic effect).
See also: A Special Holiday 'Greeting' From James Franco's Grandma
While the subject matter is certainly challenging, "127 Hours" is still a life-affirming film, bolstered by a (pardon the pun) rock-solid performance from Franco that ranks among the best of the year (and certainly the best of his impressive career)
The gruesome climax has had "127 Hours" in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with two people requiring medical assistance after the film's world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. TheWrap's John Foote reported that the first public screening at the Toronto Film Festival had "three faintings and one seizure." Deadline reported that two more industry workers passed out during a screening at Pixar that was hosted by "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich. The L.A. Times reported that one individual fainted during a screening at the Mill Valley Film Festival, while another fainted before a Q&A between Boyle, Franco and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
There are also reports that someone passed out at the Savannah Film Festival, another at a research screening at Huntington Beach and a television producer at a PGA screening on Oct. 23, plus minor chaos at the London Film Festival.
Apparently, incidents like this are still going on. TheWrap managing editor Lew Harris attended a recent screening at the Landmark Theatre in Los Angeles where one moviegoer made a beeline for the exit in anticipation of the graphic amputation scene, tripped, and cracked his head open in the dark. Shortly after, another audience member left the theater and was seen vomiting while sitting in a wheelchair. A Landmark Theatres usher said "this happens every weekend."
Genre fans would typically eat up a movie like that (witness the staggering success of "Saw") but "127 Hours" is a prestige film that caters to older, upscale audiences who may be wary of that type grueling physical punishment.
Interestingly enough, "Slumdog Millionaire," another Fox Searchlight-Danny Boyle collaboration, was picking up steam by this point in its platform release. It opened a around the same time as "127 Hours" in 2008, but by this point it had grossed twice as much en route to earning seven times domestically what it made during its first 2 months in release.
Though the subject matter is much more difficult, "127 Hours" will likely receive a box office bump if it is nominated for Best Picture, something it has twice as good odds of doing than "Slumdog" did now that there are 10 nominees.
