The adaptation of Clive Barker’s Midnight Meat Train was shaping up to be a good old fashion slasher flick with the intimdating Vinnie Jones splattering the dyed corn syrup all over subway cars. But news comes down the pipe today that if you wanted to catch this film, you will be waiting in line at Blockbuster, not at the theater.
LionsGate / Maple Pictures emailed me last night to let me know that Midnight Meat Train will not get a theatrical release. It will be going straight to DVD despite all the fan buzz and hype for its release. This is despite earlier reports that it would be in theatres this May. Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura makes his North American debut with Meat Train, Kitamura’s previous credits include Versus, Godzilla Final Wars, & Azumi.
John had the chance to visit the set of Midnight Meat Train.
Will you pick it up anyways? Or does this only spell disaster for the film with this lack of confidence sentence associated with dropping a movie to a DVD release only?
Any chance that Pathology is also headed toward DVD only release?
:(
i was really looking forward to seeing this onthe big screen.
@GERMINATRIX
Even at 300,000,000 US citizens, that makes the number of people who see a blockbuster movie about 13%. The number of people who see movies in a theater is still a niche market.
@M DIDDY
I agree with your last post, except about the money part. They keep making so many crappy horror/slasher/torture porn movies that there seems to be at least 2 per month released. Someone has to be making money on them to keep financing this crap.
As I said in the previous post I am a Sci-fi guy, and I proclaim it happily. Lots of topics they post about on TMB I could care less about, and without the question in the original article piquing my curiousity as to what the horror fans had to say, I wouldn’t have even started posting on this thread. I rarely check out horror movies, because they mostly suck.
@OMAR
Well said, sir.
Bloodrayne was not DtV. I saw it in theaters.
M Diddy.
Direct to DVD usually makes films more money than they would if they went to theaters. Why do you think they still make Steven Seagal films?
Case in point. Bloodraine, Uwe Boll’s “genius” film. Straight to DVD, made enough money to warrant a sequel.
But of course a widely plugged film like this going straight to DVD after all the bruaha is never good news because it might very well reflect the quality of the product.
He’d be deleting it, because it is OFF TOPIC, end of story. Maybe try READING the rules once in awhile.
And even if he id choose to delete it just cause he doesn’t like you, so what? This is the internet, not a democracy. They can delete whatever they want, for whatever reason they want because it’s THEIR website and they cna do what they want with it, end of story.
Maybe Lionsgate saw the final cut and thought it sucked. I’m a big fan of Barker’s short story, the director and of course Vinnie Jones. That doesn’t mean that the combination automatically means it’ll be a winner. I’ll still see it for sure; probably the second that it’s out in the DVD store. However, I’m still going to be open to the fact that it may have ended up as a bad movie.
lol best comments ever….lol this movie looks horrid by the way. but whatever floats ur boat, ill wait for when it comes on the movie channel..
I do not understand why we have the argument “somebody wants to see it” makes it viable. There are weirdos in the world who call themselves Furries.
My point is… In the grand scheme of things and being that I’m sure John is not running this site for charity, an overwhelming majority of people would not care about this type of movie. If you like very unpopular subgenres, there is no reason to get defensive over it. Enjoy what you like.
Just realize that the subgenre is not a money maker and on a whole, it is never reviewed well.
Mykrantz
I figured you might try and justify it that way
Figuring in
– People not old enough to be able to see rated movies
– People not old enough to see movies full stop
– People who can’t watch movies because of illness or infirmity
– People who live in poverty and thus cannot afford to see movies
– People who are not interested in any movies
– People without easy access to cinemas
– People who get discounted tickets
– People who download the movie for illegalz.
Your figure is even more ridiculous. 310 million people in america. Not every one of them is cabable or able to watch movies.
As I said, a figure plucked out the air using flawed logic to make a flawed point.
Guys, your comments are bordering on deletion, and I would prefer not to do that. Please keep your points relative to the post and leave the name calling on the playground.
We encourage discussion. Posts are never deleted simply because you do not agree. If you are curious about the posting rules, there is a link at the top of the page for that.
You don’t have to agree, but as Patrick Swayze said in Roadhouse. “You will be nice”
————————-QUOTE——————————–
Titanic made $1,800,000,000 in the WORLDWIDE boxoffice
Thus, most people wanted to see that. Thus there are movies that most people want to see.
What part of your anus did you pluck $2.1bn out of anyway in trying to make your pointless point.
—————————QUOTE——————————-
The term MOST PEOPLE means 1 more than 50%, since there are 375 Million people in the US (estimate), and the average ticket price is $12, you get $4.2 Billion dollars, divide that in half, and you get $2.1 Billion, so I should have actually said $2,100,000,012 as that would be 50% + 1 person. So that shows you just how small a niche movie going actually is, when a HUGE blockbuster makes $350,000,000 domestic, which means about 30 million people saw it which is about 8% of the U.S. populace. Math is your friend…
As for getting over myself, I am not the one who thinks everyone else has my same tastes in movies, who is the one with an ego problem again?
PS – Fanboy.. LOL, nice comeback.
The only movies I am a fanboy for are sci-fi movies (Star Wars, Start Trek, Matrix, Blade Runner, etc)
(I am sure when the moderator decides to eliminate all non-agreeing comments, he can see that I have had only one personality this year.
Anyways sorry for getting your collective panties in a wad. I will let you all put your blinders back on.
I say from this point onwards, we just ignore him and his multiple personalities. You pay attention to trolls and they’ll just grow.
“Jesus getting the crap beat out of him for 2 hours,”
Is it sad that the first movie that actually came to mind when I read that was Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter? It took me a bit to realize you meant Passion of the Christ, lol.
Let me help you understand that I can understand going to a set of a movie that I might not like. Going to the set of this movie is the equivalent of me taking a photo in front of a Taco Bell. Who the hell cares? Maybe about 12 devout TMB-ites who think John cannot do wrong.
By the way, it is hard for me to be “self-obsessed” when I really don’t mention myself. Don’t hurt yourself with the big words kiddo. Stick with “tool” and troll”.
I’ll focus on the lack of cinematic taste you have.
I wasn’t defending the movie, I have little doubt that it is a POS, but the trailer was cool, as I said in my 1st post, I was pointing out how ludicrous your argument that a movie going to directly to DVD because MOST people don’t want to see it was. MOST people don’t ever go to see a movie in theaters.
It is likely going directly to DVD because their research and testing showed it wouldn’t be profitable to release it in theaters, movies are a business first and foremost.
Secondly I was pointing out that you are a self obsessed tool who thinks that movies YOU like are the only ones people are interested in.
Sorry, you fail as a troll…
To add more to this… if a movie is scheduled for theatrical release and then it gets shifted to dvd release it is because the studio realizes the movie sucks and they are minimizing losts. I’m sure that they’ll add $5 bucks to the DVD cost and name it the “Extra Gory” Edition and the rabid fans will buy it. Hopefully they don’t lose too much money over this. Get over yourself fanboy.
Titanic made $1,800,000,000 in the WORLDWIDE boxoffice
Thus, most people wanted to see that. Thus there are movies that most people want to see.
What part of your anus did you pluck $2.1bn out of anyway in trying to make your pointless point.
That is truly the DUMBEST defense ever.
That was possibliy the silliest defense of a mediocre movie ever.
LOL, you think direct to DVD is a sign that most people don’t want to see a film?
What was the last movie that MOST people went to see?
Yeah, that’s right, there isn’t one, because there is no movie that has ever done $2,100,000,000 in domestic (U.S.) box office.
Some movies are more palatable to LARGER groups of people, i.e. – Pixar movies, Giant Transforming Robots, and even Jesus getting the crap beat out of him for 2 hours, but every movie is only pulling a small portion of the populace no matter how great you think they may be…
Every movie that TMB covers is only for a portion of the populace.
Get over yourself M DIDDY…
I thought the theatrical trailer looked cool, but I doubt I would have gone out of my way to see it. It kinda sucks for Barker fans that they don’t get to go to a theater to see this, but at least it is getting released.
However, that is no cause to discount that there are actually numbers of people looking forward to a movie.
As for going to the sets of movies people want to see, John is an extra in the new Hulk movie, and has other mainstream set visits in the past. Just because you don’t like horror movies doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t…
Rodney, my paid movie blog employee/friend. Does he have these pics?. I’ll take your word for it though. Paramount owed him after shutting down his site for no reason. And while I do not want to see this film. I think that this movie heading direct to dvd is a good sign that MOST people do not want to see this film. Do not insult the movie blog’s readers intelligence by saying that direct-to-dvd is just another alternative to releasing a film.
MDiddy? “You should try to get onto movie sets that people actually WANT to see.”
I suppose Transformers wasn’t a movie someone wanted to see. John got to go on set to that. Oh, and the Hulk, John and I both had reports from set for that.
Just because YOU dont want to see Pathology or Midnight Meat Train doesnt mean these are movies people don’t want to see.
“You don’t go to other websites do you? Bloody Disgusting, Arrow in the Head, Comingsoon.net, AICN, just to name a few, CONSTANTLY mention it.”
Correct I don’t. Ever.
you should be more loyal to themovieblog.
“i haven’t even seen other websites mention Pathology”
You don’t go to other websites do you? Bloody Disgusting, Arrow in the Head, Comingsoon.net, AICN, just to name a few, CONSTANTLY mention it.
HAHA I agree with M Diddy
The movie sets visits always seem to be of small just over the obscure line movies, who obviously would love to have movie bloggers mill around on set. This… and Pathology, i haven’t even seen other websites mention Pathology
I look forward to my next bowel movement. I do not however, expect everyone else to share my anticipation, thus the audience will probably not be wide enough to warrent a theatrical release.
Wow there are so many fans of this crappy movie that it is going Direct to DVD. I predict 13 total sales. I understand the concept of enjoying films in certain subgenre. I do not understand blind loyalty to bad subgenres. You don’t like anime do you?
I don’t go to the movies that often, even if I’m a movie fan I go to the theater perhaps 10-12 times a year. This means that I’m drawn to the Dark Knight, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and Indiana Jones of this world. Reports say attendance at the movies has gone down somehow.
When it comes to horror flick I would rather see it on DVD or on PPV/rental if it’s really interesting. Why put a lot of money to push it in theaters if it doesn’t have a chance to perform well, when on the other end they could turn a profit on a DVD release.
Hey M Diddy, maybe you should check out some Horror Movie sites such as Bloody-Disgusting or Arrow in the Head. If you do, you might discover that, hey look at that, there are LOTS of people that are looking forward to this movie in the horror community.
Nothing pisses me off more then people making negative comments like that, just for the sake of being negative.
And this is the second news like this that has baffled me recently. Both this and Trick R Treat have been getting super-positive buzz and really good reviews, yet the companies decide at the last minute to remove them from theatrical runnings (in the case of Trick R Treat, remove it completely). These moves just baffle me to no ends.
You should try to get onto movie sets that people actually WANT to see.
It *does* seem strange, after all the buzz about the film to just squash it like a bug under a shoe. But, this *is* Lionsgate. Most of thier pickups, specifically in the horror genre, tend to be regulated to DVD releases.
I personally would have given it a limited theatrical release at the least, maybe 500-600 screens for a few weeks, then wait a few months until the DVD is unleashed. Or put a phone call to After Dark, and have it as one of the 8 Films To Die For Horrorfest ’08.
I don’t know if I would count the “failure” of The Ruins as a result of LGF’s action. As pointed out, the SAW franchise is thier bread and butter (although the first film was within a hair of going DTV) and R rated horror is alive and well. If a horror is PG-13, it also does not mean it isn’t less scary.
Yeah Versus was bloody awesome, I need to pick it up.
Man, things seem not to be going well on Barker related projects lately.
It doesn’t really bother me that this will go straight to DVD but it does suck for Barker and R rated horror. But maybe…just maybe Kitamura is able to pull off a decent movie finally and it shouldn’t matter that much.
Kitamura’s films, on the other hand have been nothing but pap and the guy singlehandedly destroyed the Godzilla franchise with his movie version. His best film is, and I´m guessing always will be, his first film Versus.
This kinda sucks, I was looking forward to seeing it in theaters. I’ll rent it for sure. I can’t wait for Pathology tomorrow :) we get it a week early hehehe
In all honesty, the fact that it is going direct to dvd would make it more likely to go out and rent a copy to watch.
I find that horror movies have always been better suited to the home, rather than in the theatre.
I’m gonna rent it for sure. I’ve enjoyed countless direct to DVD movies so no worries here.
I still think the movie is gonna be badass. I think that Lionsgate is spooked after the failure of the r-rated THE RUINS. It seems lately that the only r-rated horror flicks that make any money are the SAW series. Of late, the only horror films that seem to connect with moviegoing audiences are PG13. It seems better to put it on DVD uncut, rather than maybe editing it down to a PG13 to make some box office cash.