After Tough Cannes Debut, Ryan Gosling's 'Lost River' Shopped by Warner Bros.

Have you been keeping up on the reactions to Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, Lost River? They haven't been good at all (27% on Rotten Tomatoes) as critics trounced the film after its Cannes premiere last night, possibly shutting down this new phase in Gosling's career before it has really even begun. Warner Bros. picked up the distribution rights to it last year and paid a hefty price for it, banking that Gosling's name would make it worthwhile.

Now Deadline reports the studio is shopping the film around to distributors with a focus on indie and specialty projects. It's unclear whether they're looking to pawn off a potential flop on somebody else, or if they realize art house flicks aren't really their strength. Either way, it speaks to the fact that Warner Bros. does not think they can do anything with the biggest disaster coming out of Cannes. The only people happy about all of this are Atom Egoyan and Ryan Reynolds because it takes the attention off of The Captive, which audiences booed into oblivion.

In the end this might be the best thing for Gosling. The report suggests Gosling planned to release it later this year, and maybe that was the case before last night, but now that would almost certainly be a mistake.  A small distributor may be open to seeking out a more opportune release window.