We are big fans of Alejandro Amenabar's sword and sandal epic Agora, in these parts. In the Canadian and American press it was met with middling reviews after its festival run and it languished without any sort of distribution despite a plethora of reasons why this should have been a shoe-in for a wide release: It is made in English, directed by Amenabar who a proven track quality and box-office track record (The Sea Inside, The Others) and features incredible (Hollywood style) production design. Perhaps the mixture of interesting science, religion and philosophy scared folks off taking a chance on this film (or Rachel Weisz in another thinking art-blockbuster after the failure of The Fountain). However, the Spanish Box Office has spoken loudly as Agora has been breaking records since its release several weeks ago. According to Screen International, Newmarket Films just picked up the US rights to the film (and Canada is often folded into the US Box Office) with plans to release the epic sometime in 2010.
The film is accessible (blunt?) enough that it should find an audience even outside the usual arthouse circles, and unique enough that it asks many interesting questions not often addressed by this sort of film. It is the most fun you will ever have celebrating the ellipse.
The film is accessible (blunt?) enough that it should find an audience even outside the usual arthouse circles, and unique enough that it asks many interesting questions not often addressed by this sort of film. It is the most fun you will ever have celebrating the ellipse.
You should call it an intellectual sword and sandal epic...
Awesome news, thanks for the heads up.