"The Mercy" starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz and with James Marsh directing ( The Theory of Everything ).
Was first announced in January 2015
Creating a huge interest with even rumours of possible Oscar nominations.
Not surprising with 3 previous winners involved in the project
Produced by France's Canal+
the film immediately hit delays
And when another similar project "Crowhurst" appeared on the horizon.
The studio then surprised everyone
by buying the rights to it also.
Danny Perkins
Head of Studiocanal in the U.K.,
Admits Crowhurst was acquired in order to manage this potential competition.
“We worked out a deal to pick it up
so we could control it.
It was easier for us to have both of them.”
Referring to a similar situation recently.
In 2015 when 2 films appeared about London gangsters the Kray twins.
One of which was the studio's own blockbuster "Legend"
But perhaps the highest profile incident of this was in 1998
With a simultaneous release of Hollywood blockbusters
Deep Impact & Armageddon.
However with
"The Mercy" and "Crowhurst"
having the same UK distributor.
And releases only weeks apart
It only makes the situation stranger.
Reasons for the delayed release of
"The Mercy"' range from
A new US distributor to many re-shoots.
With the producer Czernin saying “Anything on water is tricky,”
WHAT DID HE EXPECT SHOOTING A FILM ABOUT A YACHT RACE?
FILMING IN THE DESERT !!!
But the main reason for
pushing the film’s release back to 2018
He claims is scheduling.
While February may not seem
the ideal release date for a film
Particularly one with awards ambitions.
He says
“We’ll be having a major campaign,”
“Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz love it.
And it’s going to get a hell of a lot of support.
Weirdly, after a long delay, there’s going to be loads of news very quickly on it.”
There’s also another reason for releasing both The Mercy and Crowhurst next year:
2018 is the 50th anniversary
of the ill-fated yacht race.