Poor I Love You Phillip Morris has suffered all kinds of disasters since it first premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, delayed for U.S. release constantly thanks both to concerns that it's "too gay" for American audiences and an ongoing dispute between the rights holder, EuropaCorp, and the U.S. distributor, Consolidated Pictures Group.
That dispute got a little uglier today, when a Los Angeles judge ruled an injunction to stop the movie's U.S. release, which at one point had been scheduled for July. According to Reuters, the judge said that EuropaCorp will likely win with its claim that Consolidated has not paid them at all for the distribution rights, and will then have to right to take the film back and probably seek a new distributor. The next step in the legal process will hopefully happen within the next two months, and Consolidated, ever hopeful, has planned an October release instead.
It honestly seems like more hassle than its worth at this point to put this films in theaters, especially since it's been out on DVD in Europe for months now and carries the stench of trouble with it, even though the problems have nothing to do with the film itself. Nothing can change until EuropaCorp gets this situation out of court, but I'd expect them to take the film, plan a DVD release, and wash their hands of the whole mess. It's a shame, too-- I've been waiting to see this film for seemingly forever, and it only gets more and more difficult to do that. Josh reviewed the film from Sundance and had mostly good things to say about the comedic romance between Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
