No Prom/Bridesmaids/African Cats in Bulgaria!!!

Steady girls! There'll be no wedding here!

Another week, another example of unfair treatment of the Bulgarian cinema market. Two Disney movies expectedly gone, while another Universal title will only pass us by. But let's handle the cases separately:

The moment one of my colleagues started writing a long feature on Prom, I told him this movie would never get a distribution here. Just don't pay attention to what the distributor says, write for something else! He didn't listen. Anyway, the idea to distribute a movie about graduation from high school several weeks after the same event finishes in Bulgaria was never the most brilliant one. The film would have found success only if it was played in the peak of the prom hysteria in Bulgaria. And believe me, the fact that there is no single familiar face in the cast and worse - the film was a real flop even in its native USA have never worked for it getting a distribution here. The critics say it's awful, so no regrets (perhaps).
Trailer

But just forget about Prom, the case with Bridesmaids is quite the opposite. At the time of writing, the comedy has (take a deep breath) - a 7.7 rating on IMDB, 88% on Rottentomates and almost USD 108m in its BO run in the USA so far, with one of the smallest weekly declines this summer. The movie was declared a hit by critics, market observers and the audience. So why not distribution here? It's a Universal movie ladies and gentlemen! And we know that we are not worthy of their high-valued production. And while the cancellation of Your Highness and Paul was understandable (they did not make a lot of bucks abroad), this of Hop was a regrettable mistake, the no-release of Bridesmaids in Bulgaria is just too much. I personally cannot remember any successful Universal comedy from the past few years which we did not get here - even Funny People and Definitely Maybe somehow crept onto our screens. But in 2011 the situation is different! And we should be thankful for at least one or two movies per year from the aforementioned studio. And even should bring them flowers and sweets! Without having any insight into the situation, I'm certain that there are huge problems between the studio and its local distributors, but please for the cinema goers sake deal with them immediately!!!
Trailer 

And last, someone somewhere had included African Cats in the Bulgarian release schedule for this autumn. The moment I saw this, I just couldn't stop laughing. A documentary of Disney on the big screen here? Months after the US release, are you kidding me? That was never going to happen. And officially it will not...

Trailer

Responsible - Disney/Universal abroad & Forum Film here