Darwin drama Creation spooks U.S. distributors Last Updated: Monday, September 14, 2009 | 1:35 PM ET
CBC News
Creation, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival last week, might be winning favourable early reviews, but its still-controversial protagonist — naturalist Charles Darwin — has prevented the film from snagging U.S. distribution, according to one of its producers.
The Jon Amiel biographical drama stars real-life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as the evolution theorist and his devout wife, during the period when Darwin struggled with his faith, the loss of a beloved daughter and with the decision to publish his seminal On The Origin of Species.
Though Creation has scored deals to screen in movie theatres around the globe, U.S. distributors have been reluctant.
"People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the U.S. has picked it up," Jeremy Thomas, Creation's Oscar-winning producer, said in an interview with British newspaper the Telegraph.
"It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America."
The film has also sparked heavy debate and been criticized on U.S. Christian websites.
"Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion,' he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people," Thomas said.
....................
and the comments......
Fear is a WMD wrote:
Posted 2009/09/14
at 8:51 PM ET
Evolution as a process is fact ... end of story.
The evolution of man is a theory, although a clear time line has been established and many transitional fossils have been recovered. One should consider that gravity is also a theory. You can try to argue with gravity all you want ... but you are still bound for a fall
.....
Bryan Smith wrote:
Posted 2009/09/14
at 8:48 PM ET
Perhaps Americans can come to Canada to see it. Maybe it will be available in Cuba for family members to see.
If the studios are indeed running this scared of censure in the USA then the American news media needs to stop criticizing the Iranian president's tactics on dissent
.....
darthroe wrote:
Posted 2009/09/14
at 8:45 PM ET
As long as the US continues to act this way, they are going to generally be considered as "stupid Americans". I know that there a lot of well educated reasonable Americans, it's just to bad the Religious right-winged freaks have gained so much power, and thereby is adding to the problem of an ill-informed badly educated population..
.....
coolrosetti wrote:
Posted 2009/09/14
at 8:17 PM
Evolution is a fact. Every time you get a flu shot you are recognizing that viruses mutate and evolve. Organism's genetic makeup change over time, that a fact. Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection explains a mechanism which can cause genetic drift. Religion is based on faith or a belief in some fairy tale. Superstitious societies are backwards and Societies invent their Gods/religions which supports their societies. Saying something over and over again or speaking in tongues still makes it a fairy tale..
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tiff/story/2009/09/14/creation-distribution-none-us.html