Kenneth Lonergan's "Margaret" and the Sophomore Jinx

Like Orson Welles, Kenny Lonergan is an iconoclastic filmmaker with impressive credits from the NY theater. And, like Orson Welles, after one hit film Lonergan may be viewed as toxic in Hollywood - thanks to the delays, disappointments and lawsuits that swirled around his second film.

After his acclaimed debut with You Can Count on Me (2000), great things were expected from Kenny Lonergan as a screenwriter/director. But, as an Oct. 2nd, 2011 article from indie WIRE makes clear, Hollywood can make it impossible for even the most gifted of filmmakers to follow up on their first success.

The Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, 2011 opening weekend for Margaret (2011) starring Anna Paquin was not pretty. Intended as the star-studded studio follow-up to Kenny Lonergan's triumphant first film, Margaret flopped in a desultory limited release - the product of almost six years of bitter battles between Lonergan and his producers. Instead of the success everyone hoped for (when they signed-on, back in 2005), Margaret has earned $7,500 on two screens and now Kenny Lonergan is saddled with a reputation for failure and difficulty that may limit his filmmaking options for the rest of his days.