I remember seeing a trailer spot for Blair Witch before Black Mask (let the criticisms be at a minimum) on opening night, resulting in those in attendance remarking with a rather uneasy tone, "What the f**k was that?!" The preview had controlled the room with its incredibly creepy format, letting us know nothing yet we were still pulled in front-row to see what the hell the deal was. We weren’t given an answer, yet many wanted one, thus explaining its phenomenal success. The trailer to Gerry is quite possibly not the same in viewer reactions, if I were to bet. Some may be deeply intrigued by the way of the story and the fashion of which it is presented, but it doesn’t exactly force upon the same psychological urgency of wanting to know what in fact is up. In a sense we are kind of knowledgeable to what is occurring.

Gerry looks like one of those film concepts that never reaches off the ground (in terms of production) due to nobody in the industry willing to take the huge bet. I would have originally guessed that the film probably held a budget of like $7,000 (if you don’t count the actors’ salaries) like Blair Witch but it actually turns out to be a still tiny but surprising $7 million. The risk being of having people walk out of screenings, letting the (possibly) once-was twelve person audience now being the lucky seven still there at the second act. After researching up on the film at its official web-site, Van Sant, Damon, and Affleck were into the idea of doing something that was very out of the norm and different.

Something where not a whole lot of action may be taking place, but very small and subtle and holding a lot of meaning beneath the surface. Coming from Damon, who I know has the smarts for creating worthy pictures whether in front or in back of the camera (HBO’s Project Greenlight), I would very highly bet that this script doesn’t suck. But the way this idea is conveyed via the trailer, I still have this vibe that no matter who’s behind this hush-hush movie, it may not go anywhere in terms of attracting an audience at any time of its run.

In Gerry’s opening weekend in Los Angeles, it will be playing at the same older 560-some seat single-screen theater that Blair Witch debuted at in its opening limited release frame. This is a theater that can be prone to play unusual or rather small pictures, what a surprise. It’s also a venue that plays Rocky Horror at midnight every Saturday, so we’re talking about an area that can, on occasion, attract a very weird, cult-like audience. A cult-like audience is almost what Gerry is looking to have in terms of some filmgoers, as it doesn’t appear as a production that will win over a grand amount of fans (a group Blair Witch fell into as well). In comparison, at the single-screen theater that I attended Swept Away at, the place holds 680 people. On the topic of cult releases, my second viewing of Rules of Attraction was at a single-screen theater (560-some seats) and that movie bombed with every-day crowds. But what makes that comparable is that the theater also from time to time shows cult flicks at midnight.

Gerry has the look of one of those movies where the marketing reps (attempting to construct the trailer) are going, "Shit, how the hell do we do this?" Films that aren’t usual every-day movie ideas and have very awkward and different ways about themselves (than the average Hollywood tale) can be challenging to advertise effectively. You’ve got to sell an audience four times a day (trailer wise) with a movie that isn’t easy to present in a minute and thirty seconds. Solaris was much like that, as the ads were really vague and somewhat mysterious but after I finally saw the picture I noticed that it’s art-house to the point where an actual theatrical ad is sort of being illogical or nearly impossible. It’s just not a film that you can sell everyone in just over a minute. In one angle, Gerry sort of looks like Solaris without an ad-campaign. All it’s visually missing is the push that Steven Soderbergh and James Cameron gave the sci-fi romance.