Killers, the romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl as versions of Mr. and Mrs. Smith — if Mrs. Smith learned to kick ass during the movie, not before it — will not be screened in advance for critics, a pretty sure sign that it’s absolutely horrendous. Movies that bypassed critics last year include Saw V, G.I. Joe, Crank: High Voltage, Obsessed, and the Dane Cook–Kate Hudson movie My Best Friend’s Girl, heinous (and mostly critic-proof) to a one. Lionsgate is insisting that the lack of prescreenings does not indicate that the $70 million Killers is as big a wreck as, say, the profoundly terrible, Ralph Fiennes–Uma Thurman nineties version of The Avengers TV show, by deploying what will henceforth be known as the “Facebook ate my homework†excuse:
“We want to capitalize on the revolution in social media by letting audiences and critics define this film concurrently. In today’s socially connected marketplace, we all have the ability to share feedback instantly around the world. In keeping with this spirit, Lionsgate and the filmmakers want to give the opportunity to moviegoing audiences and critics alike to see `Killers’ simultaneously, and share their thoughts in the medium of their choosing. We felt that this sense of immediacy could be a real asset in the marketing of `Killerâ€
Just reading all that spin makes us dizzy.
Critics won’t see `Killers’ before opening day [Yahoo News]