This Is Not Your Final Scene

 

2001: A Space Odyssey is considered one of the most influential science fiction films ever made and is often ranked as one of the top 10 movies of all genres.

But it didn't start out like that.

MGM executives had green-lit a series of costly flops in the 1960s and their collective careers were riding on the success of this new movie by Stanley Kubrick. The expectations were high, but when they saw the first cut of 2001, with its extended silent scenes and challenging narrative scope, those expectations were dashed to pieces.

Still, money had been spent and marketing launched, so the film was completed and premiered April 2, 1968.

“That evening, the film opened at the Loew’s Capitol Theatre on Broadway in New York with the cast and crew in attendance. It was an invitation-only affair, and the theatre was crammed with 1,500 of the ‘best people’: mid-level to senior MGM staff and such celebrities as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Henry Fonda....

"The middle-aged audience was puzzled, edgy, derisive, and finally outright hostile. There were boos, hisses, and catcalls....

“Kubrick had posted an aide at the entrance to count the walkouts. It began as a trickle, escalating to a river and then a flood during the intermission. By the end, 241 walkouts had been recorded — more than one-sixth of the audience. One of those was Arthur C. Clarke who, although having seen the film already, was by now humiliated, disappointed, and close to tears. As he left the theatre, Clarke said he’d overheard an MGM suit pontificating: ‘Well, that’s the end of Stanley Kubrick.’” (Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, Kubrick: An Odyssey)

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Truth is...Maybe you're in a situation where you feel misunderstood or rejected. Take heart. This is not the final frame of your life's movie or the final chapter of your story, and Jesus is not walking out on you. "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Jesus, Matthew 28:20)