'Killshot' set for Jan. 23 release, but not in Cape

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Johnny Knoxville and Diane Lane shoot a scene for "Killshot" in downtown Cape Girardeau on Jan. 9, 2006. [Click to enlarge]

Cape Girardeau wants to see it. Wehrenberg Theatres wants to show it. But "Killshot," the John Madden-directed action film that brought Hollywood to Southeast Missouri, won't be showing locally when it opens later this month.

The Weinstein Co., producer of the film, has set a Jan. 23 release date for the movie featuring Thomas Jane, Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke. Exactly where it will be shown isn't being released. But a Weinstein Co. spokesman said Cape Girardeau is definitely out for now.

"I don't know when it will be coming out in your market," said Spencer Peeples of the Weinstein Co.'s New York office. "It will be in some markets in the next month, but it won't be in your market at that time."

Peeples said he had few specifics about the release plan for the film, how many theaters would be showing the movie or how fast it would be sent out to additional theaters.

The "Killshot" crew came to downtown Cape Girardeau during the second week of 2006 and filmed scenes at the Missouri Dry Dock and other locations. "Killshot," based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, is the story of a woman and her husband who are being sought by a hitman. Part of the novel is set in Cape Girardeau.

Earlier reports indicated many of the scenes shot in Cape Girardeau were cut from the final version and additional scenes were filmed as producers worked to make a marketable product. The film has had several release dates, the first in fall 2006, but has never been screened for general audiences.

In an October interview, Harvey Weinstein told the Los Angeles Times the release of "Killshot" is being timed to take advantage of Academy Award hype for star Mickey Rourke, who has scored critical acclaim for his role in the independent film "The Wrestler."

"Everyone has said Mickey Rourke is amazing in 'The Wrestler' and will be up for all sorts of awards, so we decided to move 'Killshot' to a date a few weeks before the Oscars. That way we can capitalize on all the heat that's going to be around Mickey," Weinstein told columnist Patrick Goldstein, who noted that "Killshot" "has had as many release dates as colleges attended by Sarah Palin."

Academy Award nominations will be announced Jan. 22. The awards will be presented Feb. 22.

Cape Girardeau's two theater operators are Wehrenberg, owners of Cape West 14 Cine, and Kerasotes Theatres, operators of Town Plaza Cinema. Wehrenberg is aware of the local interest in seeing the film, spokeswoman Kelly Hoskins said, but after she checked with the company's booking department she was told Weinstein Co. is telling the company "they are not releasing it until February and in February it is in a test situation, and that is all they are telling us."

Wehrenberg wants to show the film, she said. "We think it would be great for that market because you guys keep asking for it. We are keeping our fingers crossed."

At Kerasotes, their information about the film indicates it will initially open in 60 locations, spokeswoman Clair Malo said. The company's booking agents "do have the film on their radar; they just don't have any word at all as to any dates that have been set for this particular film."

On Elmore Leonard's official blog, one of the more recent postings about "Killshot" questions whether the Weinstein Co. will make the latest release date and notes that "The Wrestler" will be in wide distribution this month as well.

"Will the fact that The Wrestler comes out the same month as Killshot be one Mickey Rourke film too many or will it have a halo effect?" the blog states. "Nobody knows, not even Harvey Weinstein."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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'Killshot' trailer