The highly-anticipated documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” finds itself with three different distributors after premiering at SXSW this week. AT&T, Magnolia Pictures, and Abramorama have agreed to distribute the film on three different platforms, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to the article, AT&T will multiplatform and print and advertising distribution and marketing partner and will also allow its U-verse TV subscribers to watch the film on the eve of its theatrical release through Abramorama. Magnolia will be over the remaining video-on-demand and other home entertainment rights.
The documentary by Rodman Flender, who is also one of O’Brien’s longtime Harvard buddies, chronicles the period of upheaval and confusion between the time the late-night talk show host went through after being unceremoniously ousted from NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and his nation-wide “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television” Tour. The documentary shows both the light and extremely dark sides to O’Brien’s humor; the dark side being exacerbated by the emotional turmoil surrounding his out-of-the-blue firing.
By many accounts, the documentary is a successful and thought-provoking look at the comedian’s life during this time, and provides a complex account of O’Brien and his process, even while making some slightly uncomfortable with just how cold some of O’Brien’s jokes with his staff can be.