Hollywood: Follow the Money!
Perhaps they believe they are still in college screaming for free speech. Or maybe they are just stupid. But the recent rash of anti-war movies have done worse than Al Queda in Iraq:
The Kingdom, the movie that reviewer Scott Holleran says “suggests that Islamic terrorists are right: America caused and deserves mass murder” has tanked. After 9 weeks in release, the dull thud of this turd on the cineplex floor is heard loud and clear: with a budget of $70 million, the domestic take is only $47 million. Last weekend, the traditional “Let’s go see a movie for Thanksgiving!” weekend, saw it draw only $34 thousand. Viewers who did see it give it a “B-”, so its not that it lacks professionalism.
Lions for Lambs, in its third week of release, pulled in $1.2 million over the long weekend. Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep … oh my! 689 theaters are dropping it before it hits rock bottom. While this turkey’s production cost isn’t released, if the actors were paid their usual scale you can be certain this is a sure loser for United Artists, with only $14 million in total box office receipts. Viewers are giving the movie a solid “D” grade.
Redacted, the “based on a true story” movie that is as much based in reality as other movies making that claim (e.g., “Chain Saw Massacre”), pulled in an astonishing $10 thousand for Brian “past-his-prime” DePalma. The total take after two weeks of release is just $44 thousand, an embarrassing amount that won’t even buy the nails for the coffin for DePalma’s career.
There’s a myth that filmmakers make “whatever sells”. In the end, the business end of the business requires that costs be repaid, but it takes these morons forever to figure it out. None of the top-20 movies over the past 365 days is an anti-war movie; most are family, adventure or comedy films, with one movie being about honor and sacrifice among warriors, 300.
In order of box office receipts, the top 20 are Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Night at the Museum, The Bourne Ultimatum, 300, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie, Wild Hogs, The Pursuit of Happyness, Knocked Up, Rush Hour 3, Live Free or Die Hard, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Superbad, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Hairspray and finally, Blades of Glory.
The last of those, Blades of Glory, pulled in double what the three anti-war duds have done, and it has Will Farrell in spandex, for heaven’s sake.
Get a clue, Hollywood.
