Scrappy Miramax Disappears on 'Yards' Marketing

Director James Gray knew his movie "The Yards" was in trouble when he arrived at the Miramax film's premiere party at the Writers Guild last month and discovered that the usually sumptuous catering spread consisted of bad finger sandwiches and Martinelli sparkling cider. But Gray had already suspected something was wrong when he and Mark Wahlberg, the film's star, went to a word-of-mouth screening Miramax held in New York several days before.

"It was just me, Mark and the seven beautiful girls he brought," says the 31-year-old director. "They had a seat roped off with Harvey Weinstein's name on it, but he never showed up. But the so-called premiere in L.A. was really humiliating. The place was half-empty, and no one from Miramax showed up. I saw someone the next day who said, 'Geez, that was maybe the worst studio premiere ever.' "

While sister company Dimension Films has enjoyed teen smashes with "Scary Movie" and "Scream 3," Miramax has had a rocky year at the box office, with "The Cider House Rules" being the studio's only bona fide hit over the past 12 months. Five years ago, Miramax's once fabled marketing machine would've jumped all over "The Yards," a gritty drama with a cast featuring three hot young actors--Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron--as well as such respected Oscar-worthy elders as Ellen Burstyn, James Caan and Faye Dunaway.

But instead of giving the film--a grim story of corruption and family loyalties--a splashy send-off, Miramax released it last month in 150 theaters without any TV ads or even a street-poster campaign. Greeted by mixed reviews, the film quickly died, grossing less than $1 million in six weeks of release. Gray contends that Miramax gave up on the film. Miramax counters that it strongly backed the film, but that without widespread critical support the studio had no choice but to cut its losses and move on.

Believe whom you want, but one thing stands out here: Movie dramas, once the launching pad for acting careers and the mainstays of Academy Award season, have become an endangered species. It's one reason everyone says there's such a weak Oscar field this year. Having lost a bundle on expensive star vehicles that didn't play for young moviegoers, studios have radically cut back on drama production, especially ones like "The Yards" that don't have crowd-pleasing endings (like "Erin Brockovich" or "Billy Elliot").