Well, this certainly is a shame.
“Cemetery Junction,” the first directorial feature film effort by the usually fantastic duo of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, has been denied a US theater release and will go straight to DVD come August 17th thanks (or no thanks) to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It’s hard to believe that the force behind hugely popular television shows “The Office” and “Extras” wouldn’t find even a limited release, especially when extremely small films such as “Cropsey” and “Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean” (never heard of them? Both are at IFC) find life at small independent and art house theaters.
However, maybe it’s not so hard to believe. The film is markedly different from the dry, awkward humor that populated both “The Office” and “Extras,” deciding to focus on teenagers growing up in a small and suffocating town. Reviews have been mixed, with the average rating at Rotten Tomatoes being a 5.7. We gave it a lukewarm review in April, noting that “the framing’s mostly a little vanilla,” the “editing botches a few of the jokes,” and when it comes down to it in the end, “there isn’t a whole lot of substance.” While not without any merits — many reviews, including ours, compliment the acting talent — the film isn’t exactly begging for theatrical exposure.
There’s also the fact that Ricky Gervais hasn’t really had great numbers in the American films he’s starred in, with “The Invention of Lying” barely making back its budget (it managed to when the film went worldwide) and “Ghost Town” making a little more than half of its budget domestically. While these were straight up comedies, playing to Gervais’s comedic acting strengths, we can’t blame Sony Pictures for not wanting to get behind a more serious effort involving Gervais. Plus, “The Office” and “Extras” have done splendidly on DVD in the US, so it’s a safe bet for the distributor to aim for that audience, even if the film is radically different from the two shows.
However, when all is said and done, it’s still pretty disappointing. Hopefully Merchant and Gervais fare better with their next project. Again, “Cemetery Junction” hits the US on August 17th with a DVD and Blu-ray release that will feature an interview with the two, plus some featurettes (most of which are Blu-ray only).