Don’t Let Him Go

Local Book Guru Mitchell Kaplan Scores On The Big Screen

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

Books & Books founder Mitchell Kaplan has scored a major success with his latest film “Let Him Go” debuting last month at No. 1 at box offices in America, filling the house at its local premiere at Coral Gables Art Cinema, and drawing sterling reviews from movie critics.

The neo-Western thriller stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as a retired sheriff and his wife who leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from a dangerous family that’s living off the grid in the Dakotas. The movie opened Nov. 6 at nearly 2,500 movie theaters nationwide, earning $4.1 million its first weekend, according to industry reports.

It’s the fourth feature film from Kaplan’s production company that takes books to the big screen – and soon to the small screen as TV series as well. Kaplan says “Let Him Go,” based on the Larry Watson novel, offers “a combination of a road trip movie and a mature love story, and it’s also a bit of a thriller, a throwback to the pulp thrillers.”

The movie, shot in Canada last year, was originally slated for an August 2020 debut. “There’s some sadness,” concedes Kaplan. “We weren’t really able to have an official in-person premiere where we could all connect again. And it’s doing so well that if it weren’t for the pandemic, more people would be seeing it” in theaters. The film is now available for at-home viewing.

Next for The Mazur Kaplan Company: “The Silent Wife,” based on the book by A.S.A. Harrison and starring Nicole Kidman. ■