PROVO — "Brokeback Mountain" may not be showing at Larry H. Miller's theater, but the international controversy over his decision to yank the film shouldn't reflect badly on Utah, the film's distributor said Wednesday.
"The bad thing about this flap is that people will point a finger at Salt Lake City and a culture that should not be credited that way," said Jack Foley, head of distribution at Focus Features. "People will say it's Salt Lake City, but somebody made a business decision. It has nothing to do with Salt Lake City. It has to do with Jordan Commons management."
One of the movie's stars, Heath Ledger, criticized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he learned Miller pulled the plug on the movie just hours before it was to open at the Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons.
"Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial), but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do," Ledger said. "I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society."
"Brokeback Mountain" is an independent art film about two cowboys in a gay relationship. The movie's theme has been the target of jokes by late-night comedians, but those jokes have been redirected at Utah this week. Still, a national strategy to release the film slowly has been a success. The western is now a hit for an indie film, including in Salt Lake City.
"The irony is what happened in Salt Lake City in the first place," Foley said. "It opened in Salt Lake on Dec. 30, and 'Brokeback Mountain' immediately was a smash hit in the marketplace at the Broadway Centre Cinemas. It made $46,000 in four days."
The movie is also a hit at Salt Lake's Century 16, where it made $13,000 last weekend.
"Those are big numbers," Foley said.
The movie is also playing in Park City and Sandy theaters. It will open at a West Valley City theater on Friday, when it also debuts in Utah County at Provo Towne Centre Cinemark 16 and in Davis County at the Layton Tinseltown 17.
The controversy has led Australian and gay newspapers, magazines and Web sites to publish stories about a ban on the film in the United States, leading to letters to editors about censorship. Legal experts say those words are better used when a government entity restrains free speech.
"It's a little bit misleading to talk about prior restraint, censorship or bans when you have a single, private owner making a business decision," said Ed Carter, a media law professor at Brigham Young University.
"If we value a marketplace of ideas, we have to remember that it includes people being able to not associate themselves with an idea or a message," he added. "We should almost celebrate the ability of somebody to make that decision while another theater owner can make the decision to show the movie."
Carter qualified his comment, saying that if Miller had a contract with Focus Features, he would have to deal with the consequences of breaking it.
"There may have been people who wanted to see it (at Miller's theater), but he may have been trying to avoid offending another group by showing it," BYU constitutional law professor John Fee said. "Under freedom of speech, private individuals have the right not to carry messages. If he found it objectionable, it's his freedom of speech right to decline to carry it."
Foley remains angry with Miller and Jordan Commons — but only for breaking the contractual agreement Focus had with Jordan Commons to show "Brokeback Mountain." Miller hasn't talked with anyone at Focus and has declined all media requests for comment. Foley told Box Office MoJo that Focus Features could file a lawsuit against Miller but declined to discuss that option Wednesday during a telephone interview with the Deseret Morning News.
"I am frustrated," he said. "The frustration is that we had a contract. Some will say this is blown out of proportion, but anyone who doesn't deal with you honestly should be talked about."
Focus made "Brokeback Mountain" for just $14 million and considered it a small art film. Hoping to turn it into a commercial success, Foley created a strategy to roll it out slowly in sympathetic markets. He said Salt Lake City was in the third wave because it is a very good market for art films. The tactic, known as "platforming" in the movie industry, is working.
Last weekend, "Brokeback Mountain" made $5.73 million, well behind "Hostel" ($19.6 million), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" ($15.6 million) and King Kong ($12.6 million), according to Box Office MoJo.
But "Brokeback Mountain" was in far fewer theaters — 483 — up from 269 the week before. "Hostel" was on 2,195 screens and "Narnia" and "Kong" were on about 3,500.
That meant "Brokeback Mountain" earned $11,856 per screen, more than twice as much as any film except "Hostel," which made $8,909 per screen.
Jordan Commons is playing "Hostel," an R-rated movie described by the Los Angeles Times as a film "about the ooey-gooey consequences for young men lured into the weirdest of lodgings by the promise of easy sex with lusty babes."
Foley said "Brokeback Mountain" has made more than $23 million so far. It will "go wide" this weekend, meaning it will move onto more than 600 screens, and it could push 900 screens by Jan. 20. Foley hopes for a boost from the Golden Globes on Monday — "Brokeback Mountain" is nominated for seven awards — and Academy Award nominations on Jan. 31.
"Clearly, we're way ahead of where we planned to be when we thought we had a little art film," he said. "We thought we'd be in 300 theaters by the Academy Award nominations."
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com