Universal Folds Gay-Friendly Focus Features, Schamus Departs

     

Hideous news for art house lovers: In a terrible corporate reorg, Universal has folded the gay-friendly powerhouse Focus Features into the commercial unit Film District and replaced arty James Schamus with ex-Sony exec Peter Schlessel. They are closing the New York office and will run operations from Los Angeles. As of January 2014, all their movies are to be released under the Film District banner.

A few of my all-time favorites from Focus: Billy Elliot, Being John Malkovich, Traffic, Topsy-Turvy, In the Mood for Love, 8 Women, Gosford Park, Lost in Translation, Far from Heaven, Brokeback Mountain, Atonement, Milk, and The Kids Are All Right.

Film District began releasing crap in April 2011. Their six most recent are: Insidious 2, Evil Dead, Olympus Has Fallen, Dead Man Down, Parker, and the rom-com flop Playing for Keeps. They did release Drive, Looper, and Safety Not Guaranteed but nothing smart since 2012 and nothing gay, ever.

Of course Schamus oversaw the degayed ad campaigns for Brokeback and Milk then ludicrously denied they were degayed, but that seems minor compared to today's annihilation.

Schamus is leaving the company to co-produce longtime cohort Ang Lee's 3D boxing movie. Next month, Focus releases another gay Oscar contender, Dallas Buyers Club.