When I was sorting through party invitations pre-Sundance, I almost missed it. And then my eyes focused and realized I was being offered a chance to see Joan Jett — and the Blackhearts, thank you — perform a show at HarryO’s on Main Street Saturday night.
It quickly went straight to the top of the personal event list for the week. Not because I have remained a fan since 1981, but because it was a chance to see Joan Jett perform, for chrissakes. My first rock crush (also from my hometown of Philly). Like many contemporaries, “I Love Rock N’ Roll” was my first sing-along anthem (though Pat Benatar’s “Hell Is for Children” came right after), and she, along with Chrissie Hynde, represented the ultimate teenage fantasy: an attractive woman who could rock harder than you.
Punchy. Punky. Sexy. Rockin’. Just as it should be.
Right on the heels of news that Apparition picked up U.S. distribution rights to the $9-$10 million film, MTV has the first look at the 49-second teaser trailer for “The Runaways.”
Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. K. Stew as Joan Jett.
It’s a pretty hot, pumpin’ video and gets across exactly the punch-to-the-gut that the girls represented to the rock scene of the late ’70s. It surely helped that Jett herself was often on-set to consult.
As an unidentified male voice says over the end:
“The Runaways… have the most chance of any group I’ve seen… to tear this world apart.”
Here’s a brief Q&A with New York-based Apparition topper Bob Berney, whose new company picked up the indie film “The Runaways” this weekend ahead of its Sundance film festival bow. Berney, an indie veteran via IFC Films, Newmarket Films and Picturehouse (shuttered last year by WB), also shares his thoughts on the state of the indie space leading up to Sundance 2010.
When did you see “The Runaways?”
It’s been about 3 or 4 weeks. [Bill Pohlad's] River Road Productions is run as a separate company than Apparition, but we’re trying to find films that they produce that would match the kind of style and distribution plan that we do. So this was the perfect one. It’s kind of informal, but there’s a relationship.
How long did it take you to pull the trigger?
Really just finally seeing the film. Part of it is the idea of the cast, for sure, is interesting and great. Floria made a film that is really about the relationship, so there’s more to it than just a typical rock bio. It’s really a story of the two girls, Joan and Cherie. She did it really stylized, and it’s done in a real indie spirit, which I think is the spirit of the original group and Joan’s group. It fit with how we wanted to market it. So it was really just finally seeing Floria’s work that convinced us to do it.
The cast opens up some extra possibility overseas given the “Twilight” angle. To what extent did that factor into your decision?
It’s huge. Obviously, there’s a huge base of fans for [Stewart] from the “Twilight” movies, and although this is a different film and it’s R-rated and edgier, it gives you a great fanbase to start with. You just gotta be careful how you market it. I think her fans are interested in her doing something very different, and stretching, and that’s probably why she wanted to make the film. So it’s great as long as we try to be really truthful about what the film is and what it’s going to be about. I think her fans will really like it.
Luckily, some of her “Twilight” fans are the mothers. You don’t have to worry about the R-rating with them.
You thought Kristen Stewart was big on the blockbuster stage? Wait until she takes over the indie world, too.
I was tooling around the Sundance Film Festival’s ass-kicking new interactive schedule website on Friday, putting together a tentative itinerary for the January event. Among the site’s cool features is a “Buzz” tracker that logs all the interest in the films in the program — both page views and the number of visitors who have tagged a film to insert in their personal festival schedules.
Guess what the top two films are, in terms of both page count and scheduling?
“The Runaways,” a Stewart starrer that Apparition picked up for distribution this weekend, six weeks before it was even scheduled to premiere at Sundance. And “Welcome to the Rileys,” Jake Scott’s new film starring… Kristen Stewart.
“Runaways,” which features Stewart as Joan Jett opposite “New Moon” co-star Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, has 12,326 page views and 287 adds as of Monday at 1 pm, PST. “Rileys,” a competition film that features Stewart as a New Orleans prostitute opposite James Gandolfini’s grieving father, has 5,817 views and 267 adds.
Not to make it a competition or anything…
But really, is Park City ready for some “Twilight”-level chaos?
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When did you see “The Runaways?”
