Sarah Palin's Documentary to Go Nationwide July 15

ARC Entertainment, the publicity firm behind "The Undefeated," announced today that the film that chronicles Palin's curtailed term as governor of Alaska, will open in AMC theaters across the country on July 15. Cities and regions featuring "The Undefeated" include Dallas, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Atlanta, Orange County, Calif., Phoenix, Houston, Indianapolis and Kansas City.

In a statement released by ARC, a co-founder of the production company behind the film compared "The Undefeated" to the "Rocky" movies, with Palin filling in for the fist-swinging Sylvester Stallone.

"We are thrilled that AMC will give 'The Undefeated' a national theatrical release this summer," said Victory Film Group co-founder Glenn Bracken Evans. "The documentary is made to be seen on a big screen. With its story of a small-town girl who, against all odds, rises to the pinnacles of American government, the film plays with all the drama of a 'Rocky' picture, only with a woman as the central figure and with politics instead of boxing."

Select media organizations, including ABC News, have screened the two-hour-long film. In addition to chronicling Palin's growing up and governorship, it features soundbites from her critics and gruesome video, including war footage and a scene in which a pack of lions hunts down and devours a zebra. Filmmaker Stephen Bannon called it an “amazing American story of American grit." He told reporters he aims to "drive a stake in the heart of Caribou Barbie," and portray Palin as equally smart and savvy as the best politicians.

"The Undefeated" will face tough competition opening July 15 -- it's the same day that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" comes out. But AMC, which operates 24 of the 50 highest-grossing theatres in the country, stands behind their gamble.

How long do you think it will be before liberals picket and demonstrate outside theaters to protest their showing the film?
I bet we will see more than one.
In the words of King Leonidas (from the movie "300"):

King Leonidas: [on being told the Persians are coming to parley] Captain, I leave you in charge.
Captain: But, sire...
King Leonidas: Relax, old friend. If they assassinate me, all of Sparta goes to war.
Pray they're that stupid. Pray we're that lucky.

That would generate a lot of what Steve Bannon calls his "earned media" strategy.

Here's more about marketing "The Undefeated" -- as of June 9 -- from Dave Weigel, at Palin, the Movie: Coming July 15:

"The Undefeated" is being screened for D.C. reporters all day, with the film's director Steve Bannon on hand to answer questions.
After the screening I saw, Bannon revealed that the movie would start to arrive in theaters on July 15, in a limited release in a couple of states. (Andy Barr says the states include, funny enough, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.) The movie now has a distributor, Cinedyne, and its ad campaign will start up next week.

"Every day next week, there'll be another announcement," said Bannon.
-- snip --
...Palin herself won't be involved in the promotion of the film.
Bannon didn't want to involve her in the production in any way; he just showed the completed film to Todd and Sarah, and was pleased when they were "blown away." Palin's voice does appear in the film as clips from the Going Rogue audiobook, which Bannon licensed...
-- snip --
...The movie cost $1 million to make, and Bannon was perfectly confident that it would succeed. Ideally it would break big with a mass audience, but even if it didn't, there was a built-in crowd.
"There's enough Palinistas out there, although I certainly didn't make this for the Palinistas," he said. "They know this stuff anyway.
I made it for a middle class audience that doesn't really know anything about her, doesn't know what she's really accomplished..."
-- snip --
...I'll have a full review of the movie tomorrow; for now, I can say that Bannon went into detail about a release strategy that made much more sense than the release of Atlas Shrugged, before anyone goes and makes that comparison.
"It's very unusual for a documentary, unless it's a Michael Moore documentary, to get into a theater, to have a major theatrical release," he said. "People aren't used to seeing a documentary that's two hours long and about a political figure. Not in summer.
The SVOD, VOD, pay-per-view guys, say this is a perfect product for us -- this is something families can order and sit around and watch."

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.