Home turf before the Friday
The picture was shot in Santa Fe County at Bonanza Creek Ranch. The Santa Fe New Mexican put Levi on the carpet answering questions while local film workers treated the night as a small proof that New Mexico productions can still draw a crowd. Levi’s summary of the movie was blunt: there is beauty, he said, in being transformed by the love of a good woman who can thaw a man who has been out in the saddle.
Angel had already sold the evening as a Guild red-carpet premiere through its shop listing: check-in at 4 p.m., Sky Cinemas Railyard at 1606 Alcaldesa Street, advanced screening after the carpet. That is the studio’s dress rehearsal, not a critic screening circuit.
What a premiere does not buy
Showtimes were already live on Fandango, AMC, Regal, and Cinemark before the carpet. ComingSoon ran a Levi-Jones clip in late September. The trailer has been in the feed for weeks. Thursday did not change the cast list or the Friday. It put the lead in the town where the cameras ran, one week before the rooms have to fill.
After Runner cooled on a wide map earlier this month, Badman is Angel’s next dated theatrical before Drummer Boy on November 6 and Zero A.D. on December 11. A Santa Fe premiere is the right hometown gesture. The open question is whether Quirt Evans sells outside the Railyard once October 9 posts a real screen count.
