The Weinstein Company modus operandi of late when a film doesn’t receive spectacular notices at a film festival seems to be: add new footage, send out shiny new press releases suggesting a new cut or you’re missing out on something (in the case of Wong Kar-Wai’s “The Grandmaster,” which doesn’t appear to be drastically different from the festival cut, the move seemed like a ploy to receive 2nd-look reviews for a movie that was met with tepid responses in Berlin).
And in another maneuver that seems fairly transparent, TWC is releasing the Shane Salerno-directed documentary “Salinger,” with new material added. This special edition version will debut for a national release on Friday, September 20th and will feature “new, never-before-seen material about Salinger’s life, his complex relationships with young women, and footage of the iconic author added for its 62-city theatrical expansion.” Of course, this has nothing to do with trying to distract from the fact that “Salinger” has a very poor 31% Rotten Tomatoes score (and we’re not beneath irony; The Playlist review is one of the few fairly positive ones).
Next up on the TWC agenda of course is developing a live-action version of the Salinger story according to a press release, something that’s been brewing for a while. “I really began preparing the research in order to prepare for a meeting that I hoped would happen with Daniel Day-Lewis,” Salerno said recently of the first version of the movie he tried to mount. “Then I did a couple of interviews (about Salinger) over the phone and interviews in person and it became clear to me that this was a documentary.”
So a live-action version of “Salinger.” Is that scene after scene of Salinger writing or being a recluse? Will they try and cast Thomas Pynchon? Terrence Malick? Will he meet some boy named Caulfield Holden and have a “eureka” moment? Joking of course, but let’s hope they handle this with more tact and grace then the “Salinger” reviews suggest.