Angelina Jolie’s Netflix film heading to theatres

Angelina Jolie has secured a theatrical release for her new biopic First They Killed My Father on the same day it hits streaming service Netflix.
The rights for the Oscar winner’s latest directorial effort, about Cambodian human rights activist Loung Ung’s story of survival during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s, were previously snapped up by Netflix bosses, and the movie will debut online on Friday (15Sep17).
However, hours before its premiere at Canada’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Jolie landed a deal to have First They Killed My Father open in 10 cinemas across the U.S., too.
Tickets will be available for fans in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Illinois, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The move is significant for Hollywood as the way in which films are distributed continues to evolve, with more and more projects being made exclusively for streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, bypassing the traditional movie-viewing experience.
U.S. theatre owners had previously been opposed to screening Netflix titles like Idris Elba’s Beasts of No Nation in 2015, as the company’s release strategy means films are also made available online on the same day they would hit cinemas.
Angelina will launch First They Killed My Father at TIFF on Monday night (11Sep17).
She also took part in an in-depth talk about her career on Sunday (10Sep17), when she shared how her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, had inspired her to pursue acting, reflected on her transition into filmmaking, and touched on the nerves she developed after agreeing to star in Disney hit Maleficent.
Discussing the 2014 project, in which she portrayed the titular character, Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis, she said, “When I knew I was going to do Maleficent I thought, ‘I have to train, I’m not good enough. I’m not ready.'”
She hired a voice coach to develop a more commanding presence onscreen, and then tested out her vocals on her children, who helped her perfect the tone of the evil queen.
“The accent and everything about her was discovered when I was giving my kids baths,” she explained. “I think I tried 17 different things on them. They would say, ‘What are you doing? Mum, stop talking so weird (sic).’ One day I just got really nutty and… they fell over laughing. I did it all night long and I finally found it.”
Jolie, who recently confirmed she will reprise her role for a Maleficent sequel, was joined by five of her six children on Sunday night, when they attended the Toronto premiere of animated film The Breadwinner, which she executive produced.