Check out our review of 7500 here!!
7500 is a horror-thriller that was shot at the beginning of 2012. The screenplay was written by Craig Rosenberg (The Uninvited, The Quiet Ones) and the feature film was directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On, The Grudge). In the movie, “Flight 7500 departs Los Angeles International Airport bound for Tokyo. As the overnight flight makes its way over the Pacific Ocean during its ten-hour course, the passengers encounter what appears to be a supernatural force in the cabin.”
Cast members starring in 7500 include Ryan Kwanten (Dead Silence, “True Blood”), Amy Smart (“Felicity,” The Butterfly Effect), Leslie Bibb (“Popular,” Trick ‘R Treat), Jamie Chung (“The Real World,” Sorority Row), Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween & H2), Nicky Whelan (“Scrubs,” “Franklin & Bash”), and Jerry Ferrara (“Entourage”).
7500 was originally slated for an August 2012 theatrical release date, but CBS Films pushed the release back to April 2013. Again, the date was delayed until October 2013 and then March 2014. As I’m sure you’ve all seen by now, Malaysian Flight 370 was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it suddenly lost contact with air traffic control. That was on March 8 and as of today, June 29, 2014 no contact, discovery of wreckage, or recovery of a black box have emerged. It’s like the flight disappeared in midair, much to the dismay of the families of all 239 people on board. This event sparked a worldwide outcry for search and rescue missions, as the plane was carrying members of over 14 different nations.
Obviously, due to this world event, CBS films would not release 7500 to theatres just yet. Could you imagine the backlash? While just fully so, the studio would be harassed and people worldwide would attack the film for “capitalizing on such a tragedy.” China and Malaysia suffered the biggest losses, with 152 and 50 passengers lost respectively, but in America we lost 3 and I’m sure the outcry against 7500 would be just as strong here as in all other nations. It is certainly a touchy, debated, and unfortunate situation.
So, where does that leave this movie? Will we ever get to see it? The film is completed. In the long run, I feel executives would have to release 7500 in some form or fashion because of the huge economic loss to the studio. This movie is packed with recognizable talent both on screen and behind the camera, and that didn’t come cheap! Craig Rosenberg is emerging as a very popular horror-science fiction screenwriter. Takashi Shimizu is responsible for the Ju-on originals and The Grudge remakes. And Ryan Kwanten is playing a lead character on “True Blood,” one of HB0’s most popular series. Most, if not all, of the other cast members are pretty noteworthy in their own right. I haven’t been able to track down the official budget for this feature, but I’d estimate it to be somewhere around $5,000,000. That would be a big blow to CBS films to not even make back a fraction of that.
Here’s where things get interesting. According to the IMDB message board for 7500 – which is by no means an official source – many folks from around the globe are reportedly viewing this title. Folks from Eastern Asia that is: Bahrain, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The film even has a 6.8 out of 10 star rating based on 435 reviews. Is it possible that countries like Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Ukraine, and The United States are waiting for more time to pass before releasing this movie? Why would countries that lost far fewer citizens be more sympathetic than the Eastern nation’s who were effected on a larger scale? Money is money. There are two ways executives can approach this situation: 1) wait to release the film and hope to recoup a good box office gross based on its own merit, or 2) release this movie now and hope that the outcry means a bigger box office due to controversy. Seems like a lose/lose situation to me either way.
If you’re in an English speaking territory like myself and are waiting on the release of 7500, then you may have to wait a little bit longer. Several sources are now confirming that the movie will be released to The United States and England in October 2014. We’ve all heard that one, literally four times already, so take that with a grain of salt. And if you’re in Germany, you got it best of all! The movie is apparently hitting DVD retailers on September 4, 2014! Lucky!
They have indeed released the movie in those places, but not the United States. Just search for it on Twitter and people are talking about going to see it and showing their tickets. And the fact is, there has been no visible backlash or outcry out there about releasing the film, so there is no reason why it should not be released everywhere else. The movie was made years before the Malaysia incident anyway, so there is no insensitivity to think of. Thank you for bringing attention to this ridiculous delay, many Takashi Shimizu fans want to see it, yet ,CBS Films choses to ignore anyone questions about the movie & will give out no information. Hopefully we will get to see it in October, but I’m not holding my breath.
Why don’t they just make it straight to video ….
They at least get some $$ back and those of us who have been waiting can finally see it !
agreed!
I saw the movie last night on my ipad by accidentally stumbling upon it. I had to watch it cause I’m tired of it being delayed. I can see why it was delayed, the movie isn’t the best. The twist at the end is good but that final scene is pointless and dumb. With a good cast it’s hard to get not to have a good movie but I didn’t think much of it.
Any updates?