What the heck happened with Serena ? Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper star as a newlywed couple in the 1930s drama based on the New York Times bestselling novel with an Oscar-winning director — should be a slam-dunk, right? That’s the funny thing about the movie business … there is no fool-proof formula. Instead of 2015 Oscar hopeful, the independent film has spent the last two-plus years as an orphan, unseen by any member of the public and languishing without a distributor. Until now. Magnolia Pictures took U.S. distribution rights to the film this week, more than two years after production wrapped in the Czech Republic. Instead of an Oscar-qualifying run in theaters, Serena will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival next month, and probably get a premium VOD release early next year. Though that’s bad news for Serena, it’s not like Lawrence or Cooper need to worry about its impact on their careers.
