Hits can be found in the most unexpected places, and if you haven’t heard of “The Saratov Approach,” you likely will soon. Yes, it’s a Latter Day Saints-themed thriller, but you likely wouldn’t guess that from this exclusive new trailer.
Based on a true story, the film from writer/director Garrett Batty tells the tale of Travis Tuttle and Andrew Propst (Corbin Allred and Maclain Nelson), missionaries who were kidnapped on March 18, 1998, during an assignment in Saratov, Russia. And it’s just the first in a chain of events that will change the lives of everyone involved. And currently, the film is a hit in Utah, where on just 33 theaters it crossed $1 million in about four weeks after opening this past fall. And that has prompted a national expansion that will kick off soon.
You can start looking for “The Saratov Approach” at a theater near you starting on January 10th when the film hits ten more markets. Check out the new trailer below.
Plenty of Box Office flops in the past month with big all-star casts.
If strong word of mouth can get out, this could be a film to watch. Regardless, as someone mentioned below, this movie already probably made its money back. That's no easy feat, especially since you don't have the "much-needed" stars to begin with. BOM lists the movie approaching $1.6m Box Office now.
Looks like they're being cautious and doing a platform release roll out. Super indie. But there's no shame in that, especially since it's more or less of a hit already financially. Guessing this isn't some $20m "indie" (with another $20m for P&A) so they have to stay afloat however they can.
But saying that only stars open movies nowadays is pretty shortsighted. Not to mention that this could potentially be a great launching vehicle for all involved (director, no-name leads, etc).
The only thing I see missing that they need are more industry reviews/coverage. Let's see if opening in LA in a week does that for them.
While the film may be an artistic success, I wouldn't get too excited about the prospects outside of Utah. I suspect that the distributor used a "Passion of the Christ" strategy by targeting churches as a core method of promotion. This is relatively inexpensive and it works — but only where there are enough target churches that participate. The Mormon community is highly concentrated in Utah – lots of relevant churches who can evangelize to their flocks about the movie.
But out in the rest of the country, they are going to have to do it the old fashioned way: media buy. And it is very, very expensive to cut through all the noise and gain traction for a small picture without any stars.
Best case scenario for the story: the filmmaker finds a studio that views the project as the domestic equivalent of a great foreign film no one has heard of and purchases the rights so that he can remake it with someone like Andrew Garfield/Robert Pattinson/Logan Lerman/Josh Hutcherson.
Congrats to all involved! Very few movies make their money back.
Trailer gave away too much, what the F man.
Looks pretty great. Good for them
For every somewhat decent LDS tinged thriller, there's dozens of other "God Really DOES Exist" micro-budget films that constantly clutter up the local screens and make it impossible to see more limited releases like "Inside Llewyn Davis." They're the cinematic equivalent of a Mormon Cricket infestation.
looks good. i would be willing to see this one