The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.1721  Tuesday, 12 September 2000.

From:           Mike Jensen <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Monday, 11 Sep 2000 10:16:40 -0700
Subject: Re: Branagh
Comment:        SHK 11.1697 Re: Branagh

I'm sorry that this is a late response.  I have been in Ashland, Oregon,
buying a house and hanging at the festival.

The discussion of Branagh's Macbeth and AYLI have repeated news stories
that are quite old.  I want to put a couple of new facts on the table
for consideration.

LLL grossed only about $100,000 in the United States.  Astonishingly, it
is still playing in Ashland, but is it anywhere else?  It left Palo
Alto, CA in seven days, and this area usually holds Shakespeare films
for many weeks and even months.  Unless the money for Macbeth is already
in place, I have to wonder if the poor showing of LLL will discourage
the funding needed to make Macbeth.

I don't know what kind of distribution the RSC Macbeth (see separate
post) will receive.  If it has wide distribution, I should think that
would put Branagh's film on the back burner.  It may receive the same
treatment as Adrian Noble's Dream, which was released commercially in
the U.K., but went direct to video in the U.S. where Hoffman's Dream
played widely in cinemas.  How the RSC Macbeth affects the making of
Branagh's seems an open question.

I have no idea of the status of Branagh's project, but the facts
mentioned above makes me question if the old press releases are still
accurate.

All the best,
Mike Jensen

Subscribe to Our Feeds

Search

Make a Gift to SHAKSPER

Consider making a gift to support SHAKSPER.