Museo director Alonzo Ruizpalacios has opened up about the upcoming release of the heist/thriller/road movie on YouTube, insisting that the decision to go with the digital platform was a no-brainer because of their interest in the film being released in cinemas.
I recently had the chance to speak to Ruizpalacios, during which time I asked the director about “Museo” being acquired by YouTube, and why they ultimately picked the streaming site as its home.
“Mainly it is because YouTube were very interested in doing a theatrical run. That was something that was unprecedented in comparison to all of the other digital platforms.”
“They were very much in favor of both distributions. I think they are the only ones right now going for that. We talked to all of the companies that were interested in that. They really understood how important it was for us to have a theatrical run.”
“We shot this film in 35mm, I am an old fashioned cinema freak. I love movies and I love watching them in the cinema. But at the same time I think YouTube have been really cool about and their platform is huge.”
“I want my film to be seen by people all over the world, whoever is interested in this type of thing and this type of voice. YouTube will help to get it to more people. It is a new platform, but it will be launched in more and more countries. I think that it will only get stronger and stronger.”
“We are released in New York on September 14 and from there we will go into more and more cities in the US and then into South America. I think it will be a good thing to help the film be seen in many different ways. That was very important for us. So it was a no-brainer.”
“Museo” is actually the first Spanish-language film to have been purchased by YouTube. It is expected to be followed by a number of original programs in Spanish for its YouTube Premium subscription, which YouTube hopes will expand its global reach.
Based on the robbery of 140 priceless Mayan and Meso-American items from Mexico City’s National Anthropology Museum on Christmas Eve, 1985, “Museo” shows how the fictional characters of Juan Nunez (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Benjamin Wilson (Leonardo Ortizgris) pulled off the audacious feat and then their struggles to get rid of the items.
As Ruizpalacios mentioned above, “Museo” was recently released in New York, but will expand in cinemas across the US over the next few weeks, while it will eventually hit YouTube later this year.
