"Will Elisha Cuthbert finally get naked?"

July 11, 2007 -

The old cliche says "there is no such thing as bad press," but in Hollywood, that isn't always the case. Through the years it has been shown that controversy can scare away folks from the box office. That theory will be tested again this weekend with the release of CAPTIVITY the After Dark Films/Lionsgate Films release, which is the story of a young kidnapped woman, who is held captive and tortured by an unknown assailant. The film's release will mark the end of a long and nasty battle between After Dark Films, the film's distributor, and the MPAA.

The controversy began in March when some billboards that were not approved by the MPAA showed up in New York and Los Angeles. The Billboard (pictured here) shows four images of the film's star, the gorgeous, Canadian vixen Elisha Cuthbert in various stages of captivity. Apparently, the last two images had been denied by the MPAA, but somehow still made it onto the streets. The MPAA immediately ordered After Dark Films and their partner Courtney Solomon to remove the billboards at once. Solomon responded, but replaced them with billboards that simply said "Captivity was here." Some people around town, and especially at the MPAA found this form of advertising to be a slap in the face. In the fall out that ensued, the film was given a thirty day ratings suspension and fined. It has also been reported that the MPAA was EXTREMELY difficult on the film during its ratings process.

But where one story ends, another begins as the billboards were fixed, and everything seemed to be dying down, the film was again thrown into the spotlight when filmmaker Eli Roth took to publicly bashing the film, and the trouble that he felt the film had caused others, especially himself, in his process leading to the release of HOSTEL II. Roth contends that the MPAA was in a particularly foul mood, because of CAPTIVITY's antics, which caused him and a lot of other filmmakers unnecessary grief.

Even in leading up to the release, After Dark has not shied away from going to extremes, releasing trailers proclaiming that this is a film that "they don't want you to see!" and throwing a bondage premier party, complete with Suicide Girls, bondage rooms, and flesh-hangers. And with good reason. Since its inception, After Dark Films, who specializes in releasing low budget horror films, and has a releasing deal through Lionsgate Entertainment, has been desperately looking for a SAW-type hit to help them really get up and running. The results have not been good so far.

All of this of course goes out the window this Friday when the movie hits the theaters and the audience will be the ones speaking. The word on the street is not very good, which is surprising as the film is directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Roland Joffe, not the usual sort of helmer for this type of film. The release probably couldn't come at a worse time as audiences seem to have soured on the "torture porn" genre, as witnessed by the low box office of HOSTEL II.



Whatever the case may be, it has been one wild, almost endless ride for CAPTIVITY, a ride that will end at a cineplex near you this coming Friday the 13th. Is there "no such thing as bad press?" Is "torture porn" on the outs? Is this Roland Joffe's comeback film? Will this be the hit After Dark has been looking for? Did the battle with the MPAA hurt or help its box office? And most importantly, will Elisha Cuthbert finally get naked!? All these questions will be answered by us, the audience, this weekend.

You can check out the Captivity trailer at: http://www.captivitythemovie.com/.

Details at TriggerStreet.