‘The Canyons’ Director Says Lindsay Lohan Kept Him ‘Hostage’

The Canyons director Paul Schrader told reporters at the Venice Film Festival that he was a “free man” after being held captive by Lindsay Lohan during filming.

Schrader said, “For the last 16 months I’ve been hostage, by own choosing, to a very talented but unpredictable actress.” He also said Lohan “stepped up very hard” for the role. The 27-year-old plays Tara, the girlfriend of a Los Angles movie producer, Christian (played by porn actor James Deen).

Lohan was also expected to be at the festival to promote the film, but didn’t show up. Neither Schrader nor Lohan’s publicist gave a reason for her absence.

The Canyons, which is written by American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis, received a limited release on August 2 at the IFC Center in New York City, the Bell Lightbox in Toronto, and on demand platforms.

The film flopped at the box office, bringing in about $15,200 at the IFC Center in its first week. However, distributor IFC Films said it wasn’t expecting the movie to make a ton of money in theaters. Instead, most of the money, they believed, would come from video on demand.

“[W]e believe that the film will do most of its business in the digital realm,” IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring said in a statement.

So far, the film has only made about $49,500, less than a quarter of its $250,000 budget.

Last month, Paul Schrader said that Lindsay Lohan caused “psychodrama” on the set. He said she shared certain similarities with Marilyn Monroe.

“Similarities? Tardiness, unpredictability, tantrums, absences, neediness, psychodrama — yes, all that, but something more, that thing that keeps you watching someone onscreen, that thing you can’t take your eyes off of, that magic, that mystery,” he said.

“Monroe and Lohan exist in the space between actors and celebrities, people whose professional and personal performances are more or less indistinguishable.”

[Photo credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]