Pete Davidson's New Movie Pulled from Theaters
by EG
The new movie featuring Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson isn't going to show in drive-in theaters after all. The King of Staten Island was originally booked in about 100 drive-in theaters, but the movie's studio pulled the bookings at the last minute. Instead, the movie is available for on-demand streaming at the premium price of $19.99. Read on for details.
Via Page Six.
Pete Davidson’s “The King of Staten Island” was pulled unceremoniously — and mysteriously — from drive-in theaters last week, reports Variety.
The semi-autobiographical film, which offers a comic take on “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson’s childhood in the borough, was instead released Friday for video only.
“There was no explanation” from Universal, one drive-in theater owner told the outlet. “They changed their mind.”
Another theater owner told Variety, “This caused a considerable amount of ill will with customers who bought tickets online showing up for the Thursday 7 p.m. show.”
Director Judd Apatow took to Twitter last week to inform eager fans that they would have to wait until Friday to see the film — at home.
“THIS IS AN ERROR,” Apatow tweeted. “THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND IS ONLY OPENING ON VOD FRIDAY. IT IS NOT OPENING IN THEATERS.”
“Insiders” at Universal blamed the change on an internal misunderstanding, Variety said.
“The King of Staten Island” was always intended to premiere exclusively on demand, “however, some executives unintentionally booked the film in about 100 theaters,” an unnamed source is quoted explaining.
“When they realized the mistake, the studio went back to theaters and asked them not to play it.”
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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