Release History
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 1968, with George Harrison, his wife Pattie, Ringo Starr, his wife Maureen, and the cast members of the film in attendance. The premiere in London was on 12 January 1969. The film won an award, but did not gain a proper distribution deal, and its showings were limited, leading some writers to mistakenly state that the film "was so poor, it was never seen by anyone". A print did finally appear on the American midnight movies circuit in the 1970s, and on home video in the 1980s and 1990s, all of rather low technical quality.
In 1998, thirty years after the film's release, and with Massot an established film director, he decided to restore and re-release his first film. Harrison's search for master recordings turned up a lyrical song, "In the First Place" by the Remo Four, which he hadn't submitted the first time around, believing Massot only wanted instrumental music. "In the First Place" was released as a single in 1999. Harrison is believed to have not only produced it, but to sing and play on it, although he asked to be only credited as producer. Massot was happy to include the song in the restored film, which was released to critical acclaim the second time around, and got a distribution deal.
The restored version of Wonderwall is currently available on DVD through Rhino Entertainment in the United States, with bonus features.
Read more about this topic: Wonderwall (film)
Famous quotes containing the words release and/or history:
“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)