It’s not fair to call “Touched with Fire” Katie Holmes’s movie. But she was signed to give Paul Dalio’s movie a marquee name. Katie could not have known what was coming. Roadside Attractions released the former “Mania Days” some 17 days ago. And its total take at the box office: $138,845. The movie had a decent but not great 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Dalio enlisted Spike Lee as executive producer, but even that didn’t help. Nice reviews handled the movie with care. But Roadside– er, Roadkill– is famous for suffocating its movies until they’re dead. This was no exception.
Who loses all the money spent on this? Luckily, Paul Dalio is the son of Ray Dalio, who runs Bridgewater Associates, a monster hedge fund in Connecticut. Actually, Bridgewater may be the biggest hedge fund in the world. Ray Dalio is said to be worth $15 billion. So five-or-ten million for an art film is a minor annoyance.
Roadkill’s next movie is Sally Field in the much liked “Hello My Name is Doris.” Michael Showalter directed it. I advise everyone involve to get their own publicists and do their own marketing. Or they, too, like “Touched with Fire,” will be heading to Netflix, VOD, and video kiosks in a Publix market.
