Teeth Finally Being Released in November; Distribution Rights Sold

September 23, 2007
Source: Fangoria
by Alex Billington

There are always a handful of films at the Sundance Film Fest that end with an endless amount of buzz. Teeth is definitely one of those that had both very positive reviews and great public buzz. In case you need a reminder, the film is about a girl who discovers she has vagina dentata - a toothed vagina. Yep, you heard me right, and this semi-comedic, semi-horrific coming of age story is an example of a great indie gem that can be enjoyed by all… who are mature enough to handle it. News from Fangoria confirms that it will be out in New York and Los Angeles on November 30th with an expansion wider later in mid-December.

About time! The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate co-purchased Teeth fairly quickly at Sundance for a reported price of around $1 million. The film then went quiet for a while after the fest and a lot of the great buzz has died off. Harvey Weinstein stated that he wouldn't alter the film's content at all and would keep it as it is - great news because there is quite a bit of raunchy sexuality and ridiculous gore, including a number of chopped off penises. However apparently the film's rights for distribution were sold by Lionsgate to the smaller Roadside Attractions, who has taken a number off "left-for-dead" Lionsgate movies previously.

You can read my original review from Sundance as well as a number of other great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes where it currently has a 82% rating. The star, Jess Weixler, even won the acting award at Sundance for her portrayal of the lead character Dawn. If you appreciate great cinema at all then I'll definitely suggest you try and catch this one once it hits this fall.

I really don't know what happened inside Lionsgate that caused them to give up on Teeth. I understand it's subject matter is very restrictive and not all audiences will get it, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have still gotten some good crowds. It's like Fido, the zombie comedy from Sundance as well, that was a great film that could've been released wide but the studio just gave up. Sometimes you've got to take a risk and give a film a chance and this time Teeth is one of those that I feel strongly about. Why aren't we a movie distributor…?

Teeth poster