There have been many historically competitive races for films to be at the top of the box office. Though no future box office race stands to be as treacherous as the one on October 25th between the Palme d’or-winning sensation Blue Is The Warmest Color and the just-announced Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Well, perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch – it’s highly likely the same masses of people will make the fated pre-Halloween Sophie’s Choice between the two films. Somehow it’s hard to imagine a harmonious mutual appreciation of penile injuries and artistically conceived sapphic passions. But it’s sure fun to pretend…
The upcoming theatrical release of Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Color (read our Cannes review here) comes with slightly mixed feelings, however, as the critically lauded film will be ineligible for the Foreign Language Oscar. According to Deadline, in order for a foreign language film to qualify for the Oscar, it must be released in it’s country of origin by the end of September – and the French opening date just misses the deadline at October 9th. The film’s French distributor, Wild Bunch, was not able to change this opening date, and the film’s US distributor, IFC Films’ Sundance Selects, was unable to reverse this decision despite their most earnest efforts. However, it is possible for France to choose the film as next year’s Oscar selection for their country, and it still qualifies for the less stringent Golden Globes and critics’ awards. Oscar or not, Blue Is The Warmest Color was perhaps the most talked about film at this year’s Cannes and will likely do quite well in the indie film market.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa will likely light up the mainstream box office, as Jackass 3D was the second highest October opener ever, with $50 million. Though unlike Blue Is The Warmest Color, it probably won’t carry with it the quality quotient. Per Variety, Johnny Knoxville will re-team with Paramount for the film, a feature-length take on the shorter “Bad Grandpa” sketches that appeared both in the Jackass films and TV series. For those who don’t know, the sketches feature Knoxville as the “Bad Grandpa,” who does unsavory things like allow his young grandson to smoke and openly ogle the ladies, to rouse the shock and horror of unknowing passersby. It’s unclear whether the film will keep within the “hidden camera” format of the rest of the Jackass oeuvre, or be more of a narrative-type film. Though can a feature-length film centering around faux oldsters in prosthetics actually work? The sketches are funny enough, but it’s hard to imagine the film actually being able to stretch this “Bad Grandpa” concept any longer than a few minutes.
So, lyrical and erotic Cannes darling or some funny crotch injuries and cringe humor? Come October 25th, the box office fates of these films are in your hands – choose wisely.