"Shadow In The Cloud" and "One Night In Miami" Ring In New Year At Specialty Box Office

The specialty box office space entered 2021 with two fresh titles and one under-the-radar pic with Vertical Entertainment’s Shadow In The Cloud, and "One Night In Miami" Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman and Amazon Studios’ Herself. In general, reporting on box office numbers has been tricky ground considering circumstances and that will continue in 2021 — especially with the specialty box office. It will continue to be difficult to gauge the “success” of a title based on number alone as titles in the specialty space range from limited release to day-and-date release to digital/VOD/PVOD-only to virtual cinema debuts to a combo of any or all the aforementioned. Because of the numerous platforms warranted to specialty titles, the only numbers that are reported are physical box office numbers and as we all know, there’s been a struggle in that arena. Nonetheless, there is some life at the specialty box office. It’s not the greatest, but there is enough to keep it afloat.

The WWII horror pic Shadow in the Cloud starring Choe Grace Moretz and directed by Roseanne Liang opened in 75 theaters and on VOD. It managed to bank an estimated $35K at the box office as it sits at a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman had a limited theatrical run starting December 30 before hitting the streaming giant on January 7. As always, no numbers were reported for its theatrical run.

Meanwhile, Amazon released Phyllida Lloyd’s drama Herself starring Clare Dunne in 40 theaters and it grossed an estimated $6K in its opening weekend. The film, which currently sits at a healthy 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, is set to drop on Prime Video on January 8. It’s also worth mentioning that Regina King’s feature directorial debut One Night in Miami had a limited release in Miami on December 25 and is sitting strong at a 97% Rotten Tomatoes rating. This may help the box office numbers when it hits select theaters on January 8 and Amazon Prime Video on January 15.

Still adding to its box office till is The Dissident from Oscar-winning filmmaker Bryan Fogel. The documentary dives deep into the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and opened in select theaters on December 25. It played 140 theaters in its second weekend to earn an estimated $19K, bringing its cume to $59K. The Dissident will be available on digital and on demand January 8.

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One Night In Miami Cinematic Experience — Production Value Video Series

Jumping at the chance to collaborate with Oscar winner Regina King on her debut feature, One Night in Miami, cinematographer Tami Reiker then looked to bring style to its powerful and timely story.

Scripted by Kemp Powers, based on his play of the same name, the critically acclaimed drama examines a night in 1964 marked by the convergence of four icons: Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). After Clay claims the title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, in a historic victory over Sonny Liston, the larger-than-life figures gather in a Miami hotel room to celebrate, discussing at the same time their roles in the civil rights movement, and the path to equality for all Black people.

Moved by the power of the story at hand, Reiker’s early conversations with King about the project were similar to the kind she always likes to have, prior to a shoot. “What I really love to do…is to really spend time together, watching movies, building a visual lookbook and getting to know each other,” the DP says, in this week’s installment of Deadline’s Production Value video series, “so by the time you’re on set, you have such a shorthand.”

To do justice to the story of One Night in Miami, Reiker knew that it would be important to dig deep into historical reference materials, particularly given the fact that the film recreates certain moments documented in ’60s photographs. “Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali, is so well documented, so we had Neil Leifer and Howard Bingham. Then, for the fights in the film, the GOAT book, Greatest of All Time, is a beautiful book,” she says. “So, we referenced those photos, studying the actual fights, deciding how we were going to shoot it, and what exact moments we would use. We also watched together In the Mood for Love, for color references and framing.”

Aiming to bring evocative, saturated color to the film, the DP shot it with Prime DNA lenses and the Alexa 65, a camera she’d just recently fallen in love with, on the set of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s supernatural action pic, The Old Guard. “I thought [the Alexa] would be so beautiful for this film,” Reiker notes. “It creates such an immersive experience, the large format, and [Regina] loved that idea, because also she had used it on If Beale Street Could Talk.”

Initially, given budgetary restrictions, Reiker thought she might have to opt for a different choice of camera. But instead, she stuck to her guns, going down to ARRI Rental in LA to tell them about the project and explain why the 65 would be critical, in bringing it to life. “And they were fantastic,” she recalls. “They were like, ‘We’ll work with you, we’ll work with the producers. We want people to know that the Alexa 65 is not just for big action movies.’”

After locking down her dream camera, Reiker would then have to contend with challenges inherent to the nature of the film King was making. “The most difficult thing [for] Regina and I to grapple with was that half of the film takes place in a hotel room—to not have it feel like a play, and to be able to open up and create a language and movement. She really wanted to keep [the camera] floating from character to character, and that’s when I started talking to her about having both cameras on jib arms,” the cinematographer explains. “So, even though we were in a very small set, both cameras were on 12-foot jib arms… that the operator could float with.”

Working in a hotel room interior set with eight-and-a-half foot ceilings, Reiker would line the perimeter with Astera light tubes, which could be turned on or off, depending on the needs of the scene. To deal with shadows in the corners of the room, and keep the actors well lit at all times, the DP turned to yet another tool from her time on The Old Guard. “When I was in London, the gaffer had LED cards in a metal scoop light with magic cloth on it, so it could be tungsten or daylight. It was dimmable, and it was small enough that an electrician could just get in there and hold it, and move with camera, or we could just clip it up really fast,” she says. “That really became our go-to eye light…[and with] the Alexa 65, the latitude that you had in the color timing was incredible.”

Another primary challenge of One Night in Miami is that 10-page dialogue scenes abounded. “Figuring out how to break that down into something manageable, we ended up shooting 10- and 12-minute takes. Because the actors ramp up, and that dialogue is so intense, and their performances, we wanted them to have freedom,” Reiker says. “[So] we did very long takes, and the cameras would shift. We’re all on headsets and could talk [throughout].”

The first woman to be nominated for, and win an ASC Award—for HBO drama Carnivàle—Reiker’s interest in photography emerged at a young age. “I think I was like 12 when I got my first 35mm camera,” she recalls. “I spent all my free time in the darkroom, and then applied to NYU.”

Influenced early on by the stills of Saul Leiter, Sally Mann, Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus, she jumpstarted her career by working on student films in New York, subsequently deciding to buy her own 16mm SLR. “It was right at that time where every band had a music video, so having a camera, I shot so many music videos and built up my reel,” she recalls. “I had this hookup in Jamaica, and I would fly down with my camera and shoot all these reggae videos.”

Bonding early on in her career with the late Harris Savides—the influential DP behind films like Gus Van Sant’s Elephant and David Fincher’s Zodiac—she found her big break in Lisa Cholodenko’s 1998 drama, High Art. “It was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for cinematography, and just [got] a lot of recognition,” she says. “And people still, on set, will come up and be like, ‘I love that movie. That’s the reason I got into movies.’”

Now more than 30 years into her career, Reiker remains inspired by all of the same things that led her to become a cinematographer in the first place. “I love my job because I love telling stories, visually,” she says. “I love creating images, and light, and production design and costumes, beautiful things. I also love traveling and adventure.”

To take a look at our conversation with the Oscar contender, click on the video above.

One Night in Miami: Regina King Is Back in the Oscar Race, This Time as Director

Amazon has released the official trailer for its big awards contender “One Night in Miami,” the directorial debut of Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Regina King. The fall festival hit has been sparking heat since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The film went on to play the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award, often an early indicator of Oscar favorites. King is being floated as a potential Best Director nomination; each of the four main actors are also contenders for various performance nods.

Here’s the official synopsis: “On one incredible night in 1964, four icons of sports, music, and activism gathered to celebrate one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. When underdog Cassius Clay, soon to be called Muhammad Ali, (Eli Goree), defeats heavy weight champion Sonny Liston at the Miami Convention Hall, Clay memorialized the event with three of his friends: Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). ‘One Night In Miami’ is a fictional account inspired by the historic night these four formidable figures spent together. It looks at the struggles these men faced and the vital role they each played in the civil rights movement and cultural upheaval of the 1960s. More than 40 years later, their conversations on racial injustice, religion, and personal responsibility still resonate.”

IndieWire’s own Oscar prognosticator Anne Thompson predicts “One Night in Miami” will be a major player in the acting races: “Rising British thespian Kingsley Ben-Adir was expected to campaign for lead…because his Malcolm X dominates playwright-screenwriter Kemp Powers’ true 1964 story. But Amazon’s awards team is also slotting unknown Eli Goree as Cassius Clay in lead as well, which is a surprise. (Both actors command the most screen time.) That leaves in Supporting two better-known actors who have also never been Oscar-nominated: Aldis Hodge as football star Jim Brown, and ‘Hamilton’ star Leslie Odom, Jr. as singer Sam Cooke, who takes on Malcolm X in the movie’s central conflict and brings the movie to a surging emotional conclusion. Advantage: Odom, Jr.”

In addition to the four main actors, “One Night in Miami” also stars Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, Beau Bridges, and Lance Reddick.

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