The King of Staten Island, Judd Apatow's bleakly comic take on the life of Kanye stan Pete Davidson, was one of the first movies to feel the COVID squeeze – and now it's number one in the Netflix charts. Show
Originally set for a glitzy world premiere at the U.S. film festival South by Southwest, it ended up one of the first major events cancelled by the pandemic; rescheduled for a Tribeca bow, that was, too, axed by The Great Lurgy. By April, of course, there was little end in sight. With the prospect of its originally schedule June release in cinemas dwindling every day we remained stuck in our homes, the film's producers made the bold, unprecedented decision to go straight to digital. ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime do this all the time, of course. But a legacy studio like Universal? Absolutely unthinkable, lest the sanctity of the cinematic experience come under threat. But desperate times, and Staten Island made modest returns regardless, grossing around $40 million in video-on-demand sales. Nevertheless, one is led to wonder: if audiences weren't distracted by the catastrophic state of things, would we not expect a strong coming-of-ager helmed by a zeitgeisty online fave to — as we believe is the technical term — absolutely fuckin' clean house? Now ranking highly on Netflix, The King of Staten Island is enjoying something of a deserved second wind. Inspired by Davidson's own life — not least the death of his firefighter dad who tragically perished during the attacks on 9/11 — it centres on Scott, a 24-year-old dropout whose material prospects are few and far between. He wants to be a tattoo artist, for one, but doesn't really know how to make it; his art being variously inspired and, well, shit. Owing to a smorgasbord of mental health issues, including ADD, holding down a committed relationship is practically impossible. And then his mum goes and gets herself a new beau for the first time since dad died. Eesh. Even worse? He, too, is a firefighter. (Someone get Freud on the phone.) Davidson is obviously the jewel in the crown here, playing the awkward, post-emo but oddly magnetic self which has struck such a chord in popular culture over the past year. Indeed, Staten Island goes some way in illustrating how Davidson won over the hearts of both Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian. But check the ensemble: Bill Burr, who's great; Steve Buscemi, also great; Marisa Tomei, you guessed it, great! It's also refreshing — if not entirely revolutionary — to see such a frank depiction of male mental health. As Little White Lies said when the film was released:
It's not often the algorithm gets it right — but when it does, as with Staten Island, what a joy it is. NOW READ Best Netflix movies for popcorn perfection The best Netflix series for some light binge-watching Netflix's lost users: Is the streaming giant's empire crumbling?
Mary Cybulski/Universal
Pictures Audiences expecting to see the big-screen collaboration between comedy king Judd Apatow and Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson got a rude awakening after Universal pulled the film just two days before it was set to release. With most theaters still closed nationwide and few new releases available in the country's handful of open indoor and drive-in establishments, audiences are starved for new movie material. So it's no surprise that those
who purchased tickets for Thursday night and weekend screenings of Davidson's semi-autobiographical dramedy were angry when they discovered their tickets had been refunded. News of the cancellations first came on the Thursday before The King of Staten Island's opening weekend, when establishments like the Warwick Drive-In in New York and the Rustic Tri View Drive-In in Rhode Island began posting their refund policies and announcing the nixed screenings. To address fans' concerns, Apatow took to Twitter to try to clarify the situation. "THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND IS ONLY OPENING ON VOD FRIDAY. IT IS NOT OPENING IN THEATERS," the Freaks and Geeks and Pineapple Express producer tweeted. In response to a Twitter user who pointed out it was scheduled to appear at their local theater, Apatow replied that it was "a mistake." Variety reports that the screening cancellations weren't the fault of theater owners, who were also in the dark about the move. One anonymous independent theater owner even told the outlet that "there was no explanation" about the step and that the studio merely "changed their mind." Insiders at the studio confirmed this, revealing that the last-minute decision to pull The King of Staten Island was the result of a major mix-up linked to Universal's controversial video-on-demand release strategy. A misunderstanding among studio executives left theaters scrambling to replace The King of Staten Island
 Universal Pictures Speaking on the basis of anonymity, Universal studio insiders confirmed to Variety that the company's original release intentions were focused exclusively on a VOD release. It was an "internal misunderstanding" among executives that led to the film wrongly being sold to around 100 theaters nationwide before studio leadership had to reach out to theater owners and request they not screen the film. The move angered some, with one Twitter user sarcastically tweeting, "Real class act, Universal," in response to Apatow's tweets. An unnamed screen operator shared that disgruntled ticket-holders had passed along similar sentiments to them. "This caused a considerable amount of ill will with customers who bought tickets online showing up for the Thursday 7 p.m. show," the source told Variety. That wasn't the only misstep Universal made around the release of The King of Staten Island, either. Another anonymous theater owner revealed that before Universal abruptly yanked one of its latest films from playing on the big screen, the studio negotiated questionable ticket sales terms with theaters. Reports indicate that the studio pushed for profit-sharing terms that split ticket earnings evenly with the cinemas, something that's traditionally only done with major releases. In a time when theaters are being hit particularly hard due to industry-wide closures, some viewed the ask as too demanding. Especially as the film, which would have mostly screened at drive-ins, would have also been available to rent at similar ticket costs online. "They wanted 2019 terms in 2020 conditions," an independent theater owner said. "This is a new landscape." The King of Staten Island mistake is one among several Universal made in recent months
Universal Pictures The incident with The King of Staten Island was disruptive to the plans of theater-goers and the revenues for theater owners. But the mistake is also the latest escalation in Universal's tensions with distributors. Following the VOD release of Trolls World Tour, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell implied the studio was seriously considering on-demand as a new distribution stream post-pandemic. The comment sparked a heated back-and-forth in the press between the studio, the popular cinema chain AMC Theatres, and the National Association of Theatre Owners. At the time, Adam Aron, AMC Theatres' chair-CEO, declared in a letter that the company would "no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theaters in the United States, Europe or the Middle East" — putting major tentpoles like F9 in jeopardy after they were delayed to ensure a proper theatrical release. Patrick Corcoran, NATO vice president and CCO, also called the Comcast-owned studio out, stating that "Universal has a destructive tendency to ... announce decisions affecting their exhibitor partners without actually consulting with those partners." It was largely believed that things were still tense between the three entities until Variety reported that during a recent earnings call, Aron attempted to quell the flames from their public fight earlier this year. "Relations are warm with Universal," he said. "Relations with Universal have always been warm. There is nothing personal about this issue with Universal ... this is just an issue about money." While things may have warmed, the response to Universal's latest move is looking more like The King of Staten Island mishap may re-ignite that fight. The response to The King of Staten Island
The good news in all of this is that the majority of those who have seen The King of Staten Island have truly enjoyed it. Davidson's star turn — described in the film's Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus as a "soulful performance" that holds the entire film together — has blown tons of critics and movie-watchers away; likewise, Apatow's direction has been a highlight of many reviews. Don Aucoin of The Boston Globe said of The King of Staten Island, "[It] doesn't come across as standard Hollywood product. It registers as a piece of personal filmmaking on the part of both director and star." He gave the film a dazzling three and a half out of four stars. Another critic who stamped The King of Staten Island with a near-perfect score was ComingSoon.net's Kylie Hemmert. "Apatow, Davidson, and the other writers struck gold with The King of Staten Island by creating a genuinely hilarious movie that is full of character and life," she wrote. "This might be the most special project he's ever helped put on screen and I am endlessly impressed by Davidson's performance as the actor is able to confront and cope with his own real-life loss as Scott starts the next chapter of his life." The King of Staten Island is available to watch on video on demand now. Did The King of Staten Island make any money?It stars Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, and Steve Buscemi, and follows a young man who must get his life together after his mother starts dating a new man who, like his deceased father, is a firefighter.
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. Was The King of Staten Island a good movie?The King of Staten Island probably won't make you an Apatow fan if you weren't one already, but it is likeable and accessible enough to be considered some of the director's finest work. August 10, 2021 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review… It delivers on its promise: character, pathos, humor, drama, catharsis.
How much did King of Staten Island cost to make?35 million USDThe King of Staten Island / Budgetnull
Why was The King of Staten Island pulled?Apatow tweeted that that the launch of the movie in roughly 100 theaters nationwide was an error. Universal scrambled to scrub Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow's new comedy “The King of Staten Island” from theaters — mainly drive-ins — after the film was mistakenly booked at roughly 100 theaters across the country.
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Was King of Staten Island a flop
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