Sean Penn stars in Gus Van Sant's new movie, "Milk."
I’m sure you’ve all heard the Oscar buzz already circulating about Sean Penn’s new flick, “Milk,” directed by Gus Van Sant. It has become a surprisingly timely and important film about the incredible life of an inspiring gay politician, a man who was vocal about gay rights in a time when homosexuals were treated like criminals and arrested just for being in the same place. It’s unlikely that this film will be able to hide its political agenda with subtlety, but regardless of personal beliefs, this film will likely ignite an even greater interest in the conversation about gay rights and gay marriage. Below are some more details about the film, including a shoutout for The Mayor of Castro Street, a biography by an amazing journalist, which you should all go out and buy!
This upcoming Wednesday, Focus Features is releasing “Milk,” a $20-million drama starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor and gay activist who was gunned down in 1978 by a disgruntled former supervisor.
Milk’s successful effort against a California proposition 30 years ago that would have barred gay teachers in public schools closely parallels today’s battle against the recently passed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state.
“The timing is not bad for this movie,” said Peter Sealey, a former studio marketing executive who now teaches at Claremont Graduate University’s school of management. He noted that the movie could benefit, especially in urban markets, from its topicality.
Penn is already being touted as a potential Oscar nominee, and the film is being embraced by critics.
But whether “Milk” can achieve anywhere near the success of “Brokeback Mountain,” which cost $14 million to produce and generated $178 million in worldwide ticket sales, is something even Focus executives caution against.
The distributor is positioning “Milk” as a celebration of a crusader whose political activism inspired others to live their lives openly. The movie’s poster carries the tagline “Never Blend In.” The trailer hits upon themes of courage and struggle in the face of bigotry against homosexuals, with Milk’s own words, “You’ve got to give ‘em hope.” For the Internet, Focus created a “Milk Mosaic,” a feature in which people can share their coming-out stories through words, videos, photos or drawings.
For decades, there were attempts to bring Harvey Milk’s story to the big screen. At one time “Milk” director Gus Van Sant and others considered making a movie adapted from Randy Shilts’ biography, “The Mayor of Castro Street,” but the project never got off the ground.
Although “Milk’s” cost is far below that of a typical studio film, its backers say it will need to appeal beyond the art house crowd to earn a profit. They were encouraged by the positive reaction from a mainstream audience when the movie was screened this summer near Las Vegas.
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