Monday, December 29, 2008

Straight to DVD...Surfer, Dude


"Love and waves, that's what we need in these dark days."

Would you believe that actor Matthew McConaughey stared in a movie that went straight to DVD? McConaughey's new movie, Surfer, Dude, is bypassing movie theaters and being released direct to DVD tomorrow and is available for $20.99 on Amazon.

How is it possible that McConaughey just starred in a movie about a pot-smoking wave rider and no one knew about it? Two weeks ago, Dude showed in an Austin theater to a dismal $6,000 before expanding to 69 screens, including a bunch of seaside locales. Its total gross at press time: $36,497.

What happened? Seems Dude was little more than a $6 million passion project for the actor, and even the promise of his shirtless surfing couldn't entice studios to release it -- especially since we all see the same thing on Internet blogs every day. So he turned to Anchor Bay, a direct-to-DVD company that gave it a limited theatrical run with no TV ads to support it. That was probably a good idea: Dude's Metacritic score is a depressing 16 out of 100, which proves that no amount of pecs appeal could have saved this wipeout.

Buy it now on Amazon.com. Woody Harrelson also stars in the film.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You should really consider proofing your stories prior to submitting. Just a thought.