atlantamoi

Why is nobody going to 'Murderball'?
Film earns good reviews, little money

Tuesday, August 2, 2005; Posted: 4:00 p.m. EDT (20:00 GMT)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) -- The movie "Murderball" has all the makings of a big hit: Tough guys, violence, a little sex and a U.S. sports team overcoming long odds. Reviews have been fabulous.

So why aren't more people going to see it?

"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.

Filmed primarily in Birmingham, the unofficial "Murderball Capital of America" since the U.S. Paralympic team trains here, the movie's poor draw in opening weeks has been disheartening both to the men who appear in it and disabled people who hoped the film would create new avenues of understanding and acceptance.

"Murderball" opened in New York and Los Angeles on July 8, then expanded to 10 top markets without getting a hoped-for bump. The movie is now showing in between 80 and 100 theaters nationwide.

Ticket sales totaled $263,918 through last weekend, according to Paul Degarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, a box office tracking company.

"That's not bad for a documentary," he said. But the numbers are low given the "extremely high" expectations for the movie, he said.

"There's a lot of interest in the film. It's just not available in every town," he said.

'It is an awkward subject matter'
Neither is wheelchair rugby, with only 450 or so players nationwide.

The game is played in a gymnasium by four-on-four teams. Players bash wheelchairs and flip each other trying to carry the ball across the goal line in their laps.

Directed by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, "Murderball" won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and critics have been lavish with praise. Player Mark Zupan, who is featured in the movie, has done both "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno and "Live with Regis and Kelly."

"All of that said, the film should have done better," said Urman.

Mark Johnson, director of advocacy at the Shepherd Center rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta, agrees that audiences may be put off by the subject of disability, but there are reasons besides wheelchairs for poor ticket sales, he said. Documentaries generally fare poorly, and the movie is rated R for profanity, brief nudity and locker room talk about how disabled men have sex.


Quad rugby can be a ferocious game, taking on a free-for-all atmosphere.Still, Johnson had hoped more people would go see a movie he considers groundbreaking for the honest way in which it depicts disabled people. Some are heroic and some are jerks, just like everyone else.

"It is an awkward subject matter in a lot of families," Johnson said. "Even though it is in a lot of people's backyard, they haven't dealt with it on the level this film deals with it."

The movie was shot mostly at the U.S. national team's training site at the Lakeshore Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Birmingham that promotes independent living for the disabled.

'It shows people as people'
"Murderball" was filmed over three years by a crew that trailed U.S. players preparing for world championships and the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. One of the stars is Bob Lujano, 36, who works at Lakeshore and plays on the U.S. team.

Lujano's legs and most of his arms were amputated when he was 9 because of a rare form of meningitis, and he gets around most days in a regular wheelchair. But for rugby games, Lujano straps himself into a custom-made, low-riding chair built for speed and stability.

Having cameras around during workouts and competition was a hassle at first, Lujano said, but he soon came to appreciate the crew's hard work. He wishes more people would see the movie, which he said depicts the life of a wheelchair athlete "in brutal honesty."

"Even though we are in a wheelchair, we have the same hopes and goals as other people (like) Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan," he said.

The U.S. team's coach, Kevin Orr, said "Murderball" works because it shows his players as they really are: Dedicated athletes going all-out to win, not someone to be pitied or praised simply because of their physical condition.

"It shows people as people," Orr said.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html
_______________________

I hate to see an article like this before the movie has made it to DVD. I try to catch as many documentaries as I can and almost all of them I watch at home. Same goes for this movie.

Dr. DVD

I saw it and it is a good movie, but what chance does an R rated documentary about quadriplegics have against a feel good G-rated one about Penguins?

Pointyskull

Most docs do relatively poor at the box office - with the rare exception of a real hot button subject, ala Michael Moore or some quirky, relatable pop culture connection, as with Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, which was helped by a lot of press and that fact that a lot of people in this country have eaten at McDonald's.

A doc about quadriplegic rugby - despite the catchy title - just sounds like a tough theater sell for the mainstream.

I'm a real doc-lover, but I fully intend on waiting for the DVD release of Murderball to see it. That's just the way it is.

Groucho

It would help if their marketing campaign would tell what the film is about. We've discussed it before, but a lot of the advertisements even hide the fact that it's a documentary.

TheMadMonk

Why I am not going to Murderball...
1). It is a documentary, and in limited release.
2). It is about rugby, a sport that I, and most Americans just don't care about, whether in wheelchairs, or in the traditional way.

Drexl

I've never heard of it. Maybe that's why I haven't gone to see it.

cdollaz

I saw it because it was free, but most people aren't willing to pay full price for a documentary. That's just how it is.

MrE

Great movie, but rugby is only one of the plot threads. It's also about courage, competition and reconciliation, all of which are given more screen time than the game. Which is not to knock the game, since those sequences are awesome. It may be a doc, but it's got some great stories to tell...some of them pretty damn funny.

atlantamoi

Just curious... do you never at least rent a documentary every once in awhile? I can understand not wanting to see something about a subject you have no interest in, BUT one of the great things about docs to me is how much I can learn about a situation very different from what I have experienced (probably one big reason I also like foreign movies). I often find more intrigue and suspense in docs than typical ficitional flicks.

scott shelton

I went to see it last Saturday afternoon, and I was running late. After all the hype and noise on this film, I thought I was screwed, and would have to wait in line, get a shitty seat...

I get up to the ticket booth - no line. I walk into the theater, and there were about 30 people scattered over 1000 seats. It floored me.

It's a good movie, but it really should be called KINDA ABOUT MURDERBALL since it goes on so many tangents.

And That was left open for no reason.

TheMadMonk

Yes, I'll watch a documentary now and then, but pretty much always on dvd or tv. Let's face it, they don't usually do that great in the theaters.

devilshalo

I'm more interested in March of the Penguins than I am of Murderball. I'm not big on documentaries.

Cameron

play it here and i will see it

Red Dog

I won't see it in the theater, but I'll get the DVD based on Sports Guy's review:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/050803

riley_dude

It was the talk of Sundance when I was there in Jaunuary but most people I mention it to have no desire to see it because of the subject matter.
TheTitle doesnt help either.

NatrlBornThrllr

For starters, it's (at this point, extremely limited) theatrical run places it against summer blockbusters and a couple other documentaries (the red hot March of the Penguins, and Mad Hot Ballroom). However, if you want the true explanation for why this movie isn't doing all that well, you should look no farther than the article itself:

-JP

Charlie Goose

I won't see it for the same reason most people won't, I don't want to watch people in wheelchairs.

atlantamoi

I can't tell if you are joking or not, but if you are not... fascinating.

LivingINClip

I'm all about the Pengiuns...They are so cute...
Screw the wheelchair sport, I want to see fuzzy little birds marching onward!

Damfino

That question came up during a post movie Q&A at CineVegas in June.

DeanoBKN

Just doesn't interest me. That's all.

LivingINClip

It lacks the heart-warming, "aww" factor that a bunch of sweet little ole' Pengiuns have!

RogueScribner

I have absolutely no interest in this movie and apparently the rest of the country doesn't either.

Joe Molotov

I haven't seen any trailers for it and all you can glean from the poster is that the movie has some guy's face in it. I do know from reading about it on the Internet that it's about handicapped guys playing rugby, but no matter how good the movie actually is, that doesn't really excite me, so I'm not going to go out of my way to see it.

March of the Penguins on the other hand, I've seen the trailer for it several times and I thought it looked pretty cool. I may go and see that one.

Jazzbutcher

Bad title.
Poster doen't convey anything about the film. And I say this because I pass it everyday on the way to the train.

2 strikes before you even get started....