Releasing a film during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been easy for studios. In fact, most major studios have just shelved their major films in hopes that a delay will allow for theaters to reopen sometime in the late summer or early fall. However, with independent distributors, films are still being released, albeit a little differently, with only VOD being available at this time (outside of a few drive-in theaters). So, for the upcoming release of the Sundance documentary “Spaceship Earth,” NEON is trying something really different.
One of the most interesting ways film fans will be able to watch “Spaceship Earth” is with two city-scape projections, with maybe more to come, that will allow for NEON to showcase the film, while also following all COVID-19 pandemic regulations.
“I can’t tell you what that’s going to look like, but we want to make this accessible to people by placing the film in the real world during a time when it can’t play in most theaters,” said Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn (via Variety). “We feel like this is a way to salute our exhibition partners. This film was always intended to be released in theaters.”
In addition, NEON is allowing independent movie theaters, museums, book stores, arts and cultural organizations, non-profits, restaurants and other severely impacted small businesses will all be able to show the film with the business/organization recouping 100% of the revenue.
“Spaceship Earth” will be available to stream on VOD, digital, select theaters, cityscapes, and other businesses near you on May 8.
Here’s the synopsis for the film:
Spaceship Earth is the true, stranger-than-fiction, adventure of eight visionaries who in 1991 spent two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth’s ecosystem called BIOSPHERE 2. The experiment was a worldwide phenomenon, chronicling daily existence in the face of life threatening ecological disaster and a growing criticism that it was nothing more than a cult. The bizarre story is both a cautionary tale and a hopeful lesson of how a small group of dreamers can potentially reimagine a new world.