'Boy Erased' Director Wishes He Picked Streaming Release Instead of Theatrical

Joel Edgerton, who stars in and directed the 2018 gay conversion therapy drama "Boy Erased," spoke with IndieWire this week and said he wishes he released the film on a streaming platform instead of a traditional theatrical release.

Focus Features released "Boy Erased," which also stars Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, but only went on to earn $11.8 million at the box office, despite playing in a number of film festivals and decent reviews. (It has an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.) Reflecting on the movie, Edgerton explained why he went with theatrical release instead of "a streaming situation."

"We had a really interesting debate about which way to go," he told IndieWire. "Focus had this incredible track record with putting out these LGBTQ films like 'Brokeback' and 'Milk,' so I felt we were in the right hands. We wanted to create a face-to-face scenario where we'd have face time with audiences and have Q&As and generate discussions. To me, it felt like that was the right way to go."

Edgerton, who appears in the upcoming Timothee Chalamet starrer "The King," said his experiences with Netflix, which is releasing the drama next week, had him thinking about how the company may have been better suited to release "Boy Erased."

"The moment you put something on a streaming platform, everybody in every household in all these countries can see it at the exact same time," he said. "You don't get that chatter – and this was sad for me – of, 'When is this film coming to my country?' or, 'I have to drive five hours to see it,' or, 'I just can't afford the time and money.'"

He added to IndieWire: "I realized, 'OK, that's a good enough reason to put a movie as soon as you can on Netflix, especially with 'Boy Erased.' The pride that everybody felt with that film about the ability to help start conversations within families, change points of view, make them feel differently in their lives, made me wish we could've just dropped it everywhere rather than holding onto it."

Based on Garrard Conley's memoir of the same name, "Boy Erased" follows a young man, played by Lucas Hedges, who is sent to a conversion therapy facility. Revisit the trailer below.