Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
All sorts of stuff going on in the MR. SHOW world today. As you may or may not be aware, RUN RONNIE RUN, the Ronnie Dobbs-centric film directed by Troy Miller and starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, played Sundance a few weeks ago, and there's been a release date of April 12 stated in several places. Right now, though, all that is in question. If you go to New Line's official publicity site, RUN RONNIE RUN is listed as "Release Date: TBD 2002".
More discouraging, though, is what appeared in the e-mail box today. First, there was a letter from a reader:
Apparently New Line is delaying or perhaps even pulling the release of the Mr Show movie which is a tremendous shame. As aicn is a site that has both trumpeted the release of the film and of New Line as a studio this puts aicn in a unique postion. Bob and David on their website have started an email campaign to get the movie released. I know readers of the aicn like myself would have a great interest in this story and email campaign. If you could provide a link to Bob And David.com, it would be a great help to the film, as well as to New Line to help it come to its senses.
Joel Church-Cooper
Fan of great sketch comedy and movie news
And at almost the same moment, an e-mail arrived from Bob and David themselves. They asked me to reprint the letter that they are posting to their website. We've reprinted the letter, replacing internal New Line company addresses with an e-mail link specifically for complaints, even though Bob and David still choose to link at their own site. No matter how you write back, I'd like to re-emphasize a point they make in their letter. They're going to ask you to write to some people at New Line to ask them for a release date, to express your excitement about seeing RUN RONNIE RUN. They ask you not to be rude.
New Line is a studio that just rescued itself from imminent financial disaster by taking an enormous risk. They've always been a company that I've liked and respected, growing from a distributor of strange cult films like PINK FLAMINGOS into a successful producer of exploitation hits like NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES into a real studio now, the equal to anyone in town. Historically, even when I haven't liked New Line films, I've had respect for the savvy way Bob Shaye has kept his company alive and vital. And one of the things that I respect most is the way they genuinely listen to their audience. Their success with LORD OF THE RINGS was due in large part to the way they built their base audience, the way they kept fans and fansites involved in the process. The fact that they're putting that four minute trailer that Reinhart wrote in about the other day on the last reel of FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING... that's a thank you to fans, something I don't see any other studio in town doing. So when they ask you not to be dicks about it, it's because you don't have to be. New Line listens. All you have to do is add your voice. And you can do that without attacking them, and you can do it in the forum they request, and you can actually make a difference.
So here's the letter from Bob and David, reprinted from their own website. I urge you help them out, primarily because I want this film in theaters this year so I am eligible for an Academy Award next spring for "Best Cameo By An Evil Genius." Do you hear me?! That little bald gold man is mine!!
Hey everybody,
Bob and David here. Apparently the release of Run Ronnie Run is being moved from the much-mentioned date of April 12th, to sometime in August, September, October, Winter, or Never. While we can't verify when exactly (simply because no-one at New Line will call us back, or for that matter, knows) we can look at the track record of RRR's continual postponement as cause for concern.
While we have very little recourse, we can encourage you to let your voice be heard. Through the miracle of e-mail, you can contact the people at New Line and tell them, simply "We wanna see the movie." We've always felt that everyone down the line has severely under-estimated our fans, both in numbers and sincerity. Don't be dicks about it, but just let them know that there's an audience waiting out there.
This is about as good a time as any to make yourselves heard.
Neither of us are comfortable with asking you guys to do this, but after all this dicking around, we've come to the conclusion that this may be our only hope of getting the movie out there.
Address your e-mails to:
Russell Schwartz (head of marketing)
David Tuckerman (head of distribution)
AND (send copies to all three)
Toby Emmerich (head of something)
CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR EMAIL! This is the Official Email Address To Send Complaint Letters Too!
Please note the period in between the first and last name. And again, don't be rude, but let them know.
Thanks,
Bob and David
"Moriarty" out.
