Why does NZ miss out on cool films?

Is it any wonder we are a nation of movie-loving pirates?

Last week, I asked readers to post what they thought might be the sleeper hit of the winter blockbuster season. Two films came up quite a few times in the comments section. One was the Bruce Willis action movie Looper, the other was post-modern horror movie Cabin in the Woods.

It's not hard to see why people are excited about seeing Cabin in the Woods. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed The Avengers, it stars Chris Hemsworth, AKA Thor, and has been getting amazing reviews around the world. It also has some kind of intriguing twist on the horror genre that many reviewers have been kind enough to keep from me.

So, all in all a pretty hot property, right?

Well, no.

Distributors Roadshow Films announced this week that the film will not make it to cinemas in Australia and they are "still working on the release strategy" for New Zealand. It will go straight to DVD in Australia

The announcement has already sparked outrage in the geekosphere, with a petition and many blogs expressing outrage.

It could become another example of New Zealand getting a raw deal with some movies.  A recent example was Attack the Block. This critically acclaimed British sci-fi movie came out in the UK in May last year, the US in July and on DVD in the UK in September. It eventually made it to NZ cinemas with little fanfare in March this year. It was an undignified NZ release for a great little genre film.

This rather patchy release pattern could be part of the reason a recent survey found kiwis to be big movie fans, but ever so partial to illegally downloading films on the internet. I don't condone it, but I understand it. It is dispiriting to read all the web hype about a film and know that it may never get released in NZ. Especially when you know that you could be watching the film that evening after just a few mouse clicks. The internet has changed expectations forever, movie studios need to catch up.

Perhaps this is the price we pay for living in a small country. With a small population comes a small niche audience. But, I think there is a strong enough fan base for a film like Cabin in the Woods to at least give it a go. It feels like someone has crunched the numbers in LA to come to this decision with no feel for the market here.

As one blogger already pointed out, it wouldn't have been hard to market Cabin in the Woods. A blogger on Hitfix.com said that all it would have taken was: "You saw what [Joss Whedon] did with superheroes.  Now see what he did to horror."

What do you think? Tired of getting a raw deal in NZ? Do you turn to bit torrent when you have to wait too long? Do you feel bad about that? Let me know what you think.

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