Last year at this time MUBI was the talk of the town. Owner Efe Cakarel was brilliant.
Today, not so much.
What went wrong?
MUBI got pretty far last year by turning Demi Moore into a cause célèbre, or a celebrity cause in “The Substance.” The movie was unwatchable, but Moore was inspired casting. It doesn’t look lightning is going to strike twice.
MUBI, a streamer, paid $24 million at the Cannes Film Festival for “Die My Love” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.
But Lynne Ramsay’s movie has been a bust. “Die My Love” has made just $5 million in theaters. Critics at the festival loved it, but when “Die My Love” hit the real world, the party was over.
The RT critics rating is a meh 73%. The audience meter is at 46%.
Earlier this year we were served with Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal in a period piece about gay lovers who comb the Ozarks for country songs. Yes, did you read that description? “The History of Sound” made $841,366.
Next up come a couple of releases that don’t look promising. First up is Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind,” the second Josh O’Connor movie, which has a 90% among critics. But audiences don’t want it. Their response is just 38%, so that’s not going to work out.
After that, Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother.” It’s loaded with stars like Cate Blanchett, Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, and Charlotte Rampling.
But MUBI is dumping it into art houses — at least, the Film Forum in New York — on Christmas Eve.
Critics have given it an 82%, but not that many have seen it. There’s very little press on the Jarmusch film. Releasing it on Christmas Eve isn’t causing much enthusiasm — unless the family in the movie is Jewish, which they don’t appear to be.
