Case 39 is a 2009 horror thriller film directed by Christian Alvart and stars Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane and Bradley Cooper.
Its initial planned US release was February 8, 2008 which was changed to February 22, 2008. It was then moved to August 22, 2008, and then moved again to April 10, 2009. Then it got pushed back to a January 1, 2010. It has been confirmed that the US release date has been moved to October 1, 2010.
Case 39 was released to New Zealand cinemas on August 13, 2009 and in its opening weekend was ranked #12 with $35,056.Averaging $1,845 at the 19 cinemas it was released, the film failed to garner attendance.
The film opened at a small-wide release in Australia, being shown on 85 screens. The film ranked #12 in its opening weekend with a screen average of $2,077 for a gross of $176,526. Extremely negative local reviews and a poor opening were followed by a 70% second weekend decrease. The film grossed a total of $AUD332,956.
The film has received mostly negative reviews and currently holds an 22% ‘Rotten’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews, with critics describing the film as “universally terrible”, “dumb” and “not scary”. Gareth Jones of Dread Central gave the film 2 out of 5 knives, saying, “I’m sure it will do decent business among the undemanding weekend-horror crowd and Zellweger fans when it eventually sees the light of day. Nobody else need apply.”
Margaret Pomeranz of the Australian version of At the Movies gave the film one out of 5 stars, calling it “one of the least scary, dumbest movies I’ve seen in a long time.” Co-host David Stratton gave it 1½ out of 5, commenting that “once it sort of kicks into the plot – once it really gets down to the nitty gritty, like so many horror films it just becomes really ridiculous and silly.”
The film was shot in Vancouver in late 2006, and was scheduled to be released in August 2008, but it was pushed back to April 10, 2009, and then to January 1, 2010. It has now been moved to October 1, 2010. It was released in the UK on March 5, 2010. The film was scheduled to be shown on TV in parts of the Middle East on May 1, 2010.
