The Peanut Butter Case Study pt.3

When I am researching behind the scenes of great movies like The Peanut Butter Falcon, I am also very happy when I am working. In this post I will be completing my case study on The Peanut Butter Falcon by discussing how it came to be distributed.

Distributing

On March 9th, 2019 The Peanut Butter Falcon premiered at South by Southwest. South by Southwest is a film festival that “dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals.“

After winning an Audience Award within a Narrative Spotlight, Roadside Attractions negotiated a deal to acquire U.S. distribution rights to the film.

Howard Cohen and Angel An of Roadside Attractions negotiated the deal and planned to release the movie into theaters August 9, 2019.

The Peanut Butter Falcon was distributed using the method of platforming, where a film opens in a few big cities then spreads only if it is successful.

Within the opening week the movie was released into 17 theatres and grossed $205,200. Because of this success the movie then was released to a wider audience and 991 theatres. Then it grossed 3 million dollars, which is almost half of its production budget of 6.2 million dollars.

It then expanded even more to 1,249 theatres, and became the highest grossing independent film of 2019 grossing $21,989,716.

Surprisingly enough, this is not the first “highest grossing independent film of the year ” Roadside Attractions has distributed. In 2018 they released I Can Only Imagine (which I had the privilege of viewing in theatres) that grossed 83.5 million dollars.

Given just its track record of financial success when it comes to independent films, Roadside Attractions seems to be a great candidate as a distributor for our independent film .

What really puts Roadside Attractions over the edge is that in addition to their background of financial success they also distribute several movies with academy award nomination and even more that are both critical and commercial hits.

Now that I have completed my case study of The Peanut Butter Falcon I have chosen my distribution company, know how to plan and save money during production , and need to begin convincing production companies to finance our film.

Resources:

“About.” Roadside Attractions, roadsideattractions.com/about/.Hipes, Patrick.

“SXSW Audience Winner ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ Acquired By Roadside Attractions For Summer Bow.” Deadline, 15 May 2019, deadline.com/2019/05/the-peanut-butter-falcon-release-date-shia-labeouf-dakota-johnson-roadside-attractions-1202615138/.

“SXSW Film Awards.” SXSW, http://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film-awards/#2019winners.