2023-12-29 14:27:32
Published29. December 2023, 3:27 p.m
Hype about the film: scenes too blatant? That’s why “Saltburn” isn’t showing in Swiss cinemas
Despite great success at the Zurich Film Festival, a theatrical release in Switzerland is not planned. The reason lies with the film’s production company.
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Tiktok users show their disturbed reactions to the film “Saltburn”.
Tiktok
That’s what it’s about
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Tiktok is currently full of videos about the disturbing film “Saltburn”.
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Despite the hype, a theatrical release in Switzerland is not planned.
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Since “Saltburn” is an Amazon production, it can only be streamed in this country.
Hardly any film is currently causing as much of a stir on Tiktok as “Saltburn” by Oscar-winning director Emerald Fennell. The film was shown at this year’s Zurich Film Festival, but will it also be released in cinemas across Switzerland?
“We thought we would go see a light-hearted romantic film,” writes one user on the social media platform. The psychological thriller “Saltburn” is definitely not that. Due to its brutal and explicit scenes, it is only approved for ages 18 and over.
The film is about Oxford student Oliver (Barry Keoghan, 31), who becomes friends with the attractive, rich Felix (Jacob Elordi, 26). The latter certainly contributes significantly to the fact that many young women in particular flock to the cinema for the film. The Australian made his breakthrough with the romantic teen film “The Kissing Booth”. But for “Saltburn” he shows a darker side.
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The thriller “Saltburn” sparked mega hype on Tiktok. People are captivated by the disturbing action.
IMAGO/Everett Collection
Actor Jacob Elordi also contributes to the success of the film. The actor has many young fans.
IMAGO/Landmark Media
Despite the hype, you cannot see the film in cinemas in Switzerland.
Amazon Prime/dpa
“Saltburn” was very popular at the ZFF
You could watch the film on the big screen at this year’s Zurich Film Festival on a total of three evenings. “Over 1,600 people saw the film, which made it into the top 5 of the festival in terms of visitors,” Christian Jungs, artistic director of the festival, tells 20 Minutes. With a program of around 150 films, this is considerable. He confirms that “Saltburn” was particularly popular with a young audience.
The film expert explains the hype, among other things, with the enormous tension, eerie atmosphere and surprising twists that run through the entire two hours of the film. “Many spectators were equally fascinated and disturbed. It’s a film where you don’t know what’s going to happen next or where it’s going to go.” Anyone who has seen it will probably not be able to get the bathtub scene out of their head so quickly. “Personally, I was also very surprised at the end,” said the festival director.
“Saltburn” in the cinema would spoil Amazon’s numbers
There is currently no official release date known for Swiss cinemas. “Saltburn” was shown in the USA and Great Britain in November. Since the production company behind the film is Amazon MGM, distribution in this country via the conventional film distributors Ascot Elite and Universal is not planned, as the companies confirmed upon request. Is the film simply too blatant for Swiss audiences? The reason is probably more of an economic nature.
Amazon Prime has the business interest of generating the highest possible number of subscriptions. They would spoil this with a theatrical release. In 2019, the head of Amazon MGM, Jennifer Salke, announced that she would align the streaming service’s strategy with that of Netflix and rely more on her subscription numbers. “We are not completely closing the door on cinema releases […]. “Our aim is to make our films available to our Prime subscribers as quickly as possible,” said their statement at the time.
Meanwhile, Amazon MGM has moved away from this strategy a bit. In 2022, the company announced that it wanted to invest one billion to bring twelve to 15 films to cinemas every year. However, it is unclear whether smaller markets such as Switzerland will be taken into account. A request to Amazon is pending.
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