Trainwreck played as a work-in-progress in 2015, and last year, Baby Driver first gunned its engines at the festival.
The fest has a strong populist bent, and the lineup of studio films that have played at SXSW include Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bridesmaids, 21 Jump Street, The Cabin in the Woods, Neighbors, Sausage Party and even Furious 7. While SXSW Film became its own event in 1995, for the film side, 2007 was a defining year, thanks to the comedy Knocked Up. The most recent films are only the latest in a long string of wins for SXSW, which began its life 25 years ago as a music festival before adding tech (Twitter made its debut there), movies and television to its lineup. And while various factors came into play around the three films, it’s not lost on Hollywood that SXSW has becoming increasingly prominent as a spring launching pad, especially for films that are positioned to make use of word-of-mouth-building social media.
“The buzz that we were able to generate from the screening before 1,200 people and critics really launched the film.”Ĭombined, Ready Player One, A Quiet Place and Blockers have already earned nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office. “I think SXSW was the most valuable thing for the movie,” says producer Andrew Form of Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes, which produced A Quiet Place for Paramount. Buoyed by the buzz that was first ignited in Austin, it was one of the biggest starts ever for a horror title. But the weekend’s biggest breakout was John Krasinki’s A Quiet Place, which opened this year’s edition of the fest and debuted to $50 million over the weekend.
Universal’s R-rated comedy Blockers, which also was unveiled at SXSW this year, exceeded expectations by collecting $21 million when it opened this past weekend. The festival has arguably proved to be even more valuable for studios looking to create awareness for original properties. Though Ready Player One appeared to get a boost from SXSW, it was hardly an unknown property.