Posted on Jul 07, 2009 under News |
Exhibitors and film distributors in Argentina have delayed the premieres of “Hannah Montana: The Movie” and other big releases as an outbreak of AH1N1 swine flu reaches attendance during winter break, the year’s greatest season. Admissions declined 34% from Thursday to Sunday compared with the previous week in spite of the premieres of “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and Sandra Bullock starrer “The Proposal,” according to box office tracker Ultracine.
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Up” saw admissions drop by 76% and 89%, respectively, over the same period. Some big draws will wait such “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” that will come out July 23 instead of July 16. Argentina has now exceeded Canada for third place in deaths from the swine flu. “Even though the health controls allow us to keep theaters open, our activity needs people,” Carlos Rottemberg, head of the Argentine Assn. of Theater Executives, said at a press conference Monday.
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A large part of the missing footage cut from Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s most impressive film of its time, after it flopped upon opening in 1927 has been found in a museum in Argentina.
The most expensive film ever made in German at that time, 1927, the cult sci-fi classic, was written by Lang and his wife.
Metropolis did poorly, so the movie received a re-edit to recoup costs, cutting about 25% of the film. It was released and received great acclaim.
Yet a copy of the original version ended up in Argentina by Adolfo Z. Wilson, who was head of Buenos Aires distribution named Terra.
Now, the original unedited version of Metropolis has been found.
For film lovers and historians this is awesome. The film needs to be restored; I hope it is, because it’s not in the best of shape with scratches and such.
Personally, I’d like to see the original version and see what Lang truly intended with his film about futuristic urban dystopia. The year 2006 set against the conditions of social tension between the working class and capitalist bosses.
Metropolis was considered a classic in part because of its pioneering special effects.
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