Slumdog is a November film that will expand very wide before The Wrestler even hits theaters. Its got a LOT of festival buzz and some solid marketing. I know people on my site LOVED the trailer. They literally picked up that film one WEEK before it premiered at Telluride (this is accurate) and started figuring out how to market it then. It’s a tough sell, but they’ve done a great job building buzz so far.

As for The Wrestler, they literally picked up THAT film during Toronto (a few weeks after they picked up Slumdog). This also has festival buzz but is an entirely different thing. I actually think it’s HARDER to sell Wrestler than it is Slumdog – mainly because Wrestler is about prof. wrestling which most people quick to ignore, since the sport itself is a bit lame. I mean that on the “surface,” because obviously the movie is fantastic, but I’ll be very curious to see how they sell it. They’ve still got time to build this one up – since it’s a December film, though.

Anyway, my point is that I think you’re being a bit too hasty with your thoughts when really we should be waiting to see what happens with The Wrestler and supporting both films individually. Fox Searchlight knows what they’re doing – both will be big hits, I’m damn sure of that!