Responding to pressure from parents Universal and Seagram over the lurid content of Todd Solondz’s “Happiness,” October Films has dropped the pic from its release slate.
Good Machine Intl., which is already handling the foreign distribution, will create its own indie domestic distribution network to release the pic. Good Machine would not divulge the financial details behind the deal.
The pic, which preemed in the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival this year, involves scenes of pedophilia, violent gun slayings, masturbation and dismemberment of a human body.
Dubbed brilliant but disturbing by the critics, it was awarded the Intl. Critics’ Prize for best film.
In this era of proliferating studio-owned indies, the move points up the hazards that independents face from studio corporate culture with the often-dicey content and subject matter of their pics.
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On the flipside, it also underscores the tough decisions studios must make with filmmakers whose work tends toward more provocative subjects.
October, which financed the pic, said the decision was made completely internally at the Universal-owned independent.
“The reality is that there are some elements in the film that thematically are inappropriate for our parent company,” October partner John Schmidt said.
Sources close to the situation said, however, the move was a directive from the “people in the black tower,” referring to Universal’s main office complex on the lot.
Schmidt conceded that several meetings took place with October partners Schmidt, Bingham Ray and Scott Greenstein and Universal Studios chairman-CEO Frank Biondi, prexy-chief operating officer Ron Meyer, Universal Pictures chairman Casey Silver and chief operating officer Chris McGurk.
It was unclear whether Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. was part of the decision-making process.
Good Machine, which has sold the film to more than 30 territories overseas, was happy to take over domestic.
“Aside from the controversy the film may generate, the simple fact remains that we believe this is a great American independent film. Period,” said David Linde, Good Machine Intl. prexy.
Christine Vachon, who produced the pic with Good Machine exec Ted Hope, added: ” ‘Happiness,’ like all groundbreaking films, is provocative and cutting-edge.”
October consulted with director Solondz on the decision. “Rather than say to Todd, you have to cut your film, which was contractually our right, we sat down with Todd and our partners at Good Machine and decided it would be a terrific situation,” said Schmidt.
The October exec added that the indie was still in the business of making films that would “rattle cages.” He pointed to “Orgazmo,” the upcoming porn spoof feature from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Miramax encountered a similar situation three years ago with “Kids,” which parent Disney refused to let the indie release with an NC-17 rating. So Miramax created the istrib entity Shining Excalibur to handle it.
Fine Line also diminished its distribution and marketing push for “Crash” after corproate parent company honcho Ted Turner expressed criticism of the violence and sex in the pic.
Linde said the distribution network of Good Machine likely will be extended to handle future releases. Currently, Good Machine has a deal with Fox that is up in September.
Linde said Good Machine has not decided on its new deal. But he noted that the distribution network would probably continue.
“It’s sort of an outgrowth of our business because we’re so filmmaker-focused,” he said. “It was always something that we thought about doing, getting into distribution.”