Thanks to Hurricane Matthew and a whirlwind of bad press surrounding ‘Birth of a Nation’ star Nate Parker and his refusal to apologize for his involvement in a 17-year-old rape case (that he was acquitted of), the historical film – which depicts the Nat Turner-led slave revolt of 1831 – bombed something fierce at the box office this past weekend.
Well, according to FOX executive Frank Rodriguez, that depends on how you define “bomb.”
For many-an-outlet the flick was deemed a flop because it was only able to drum up 7.1 million at the box office – an undoubtedly low sum considering FOX Searchlight acquired it during the Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $17.5 million deal.
Despite the expectations, Rodriguez asserts the studio is pleased with ‘Nation’s performance to date…
The picture pulled in an estimated $7.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, barely meeting analyst projections of $7 million to $9 million. The studio, which expected $7 million to $8 million going into the weekend, is happy with the debut, said Frank Rodriguez, Fox Searchlight’s senior vice president of domestic distribution.
“A ‘disappointment’ would’ve been if we came in with $5.8 million or $6.1 million,” he said, also noting that Hurricane Matthew in the Southeast closed a significant number of theaters where the film was expected to soar.
Time will ultimately be the deciding factor on how the film goes down in history books. Industry analysts are suggesting while its truest success could be on the DVD/Blu-Ray rental front, Golden Globe and Academy Award nods look slim.
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Jesus another s**** movie
yes where the black man is in charge and not the white folks ! This what they don’t want you to see!
Exactly. Which is why the powers that be dug up all that negative press to make sure the film bombed at the box office.
you see how they play they games! Amerikkka is b******* !
Probably why its flopping cause once you’ve seen a s**** movie you’ve pretty much seen them all.
I need to see this movie! Shout out to Nate Parker for doing this!
Nate Parker’s performance is exquisite! the film is also beautiful in its symbolic imagery. despite all controversy, the project is cinematic gold.
He’ll eventually make the budget back, slowly but surely. Now, I’m nor so sure about the film making a box office profit, though. He doesn’t care about the money anyway. The film release was always the most important aspect for him, so he’s good either way.
Let’s be real. The studio tried to capitalize on the trending BLM movement to make this a success. It failed to sell tickets to that audience and the lead actor’s controversy along with bad weather turned off general audiences. Critics aren’t in love with the movie either, so I wouldn’t expect any big awards.
TL;DR: IT. IS. A. CERTIFIED. FLOP.
This movie was in production before #BLM was birthed, so you are wrong about that.
This was Hollywood not wanting a new black director to emerge. He’s done other films… But all his old drama just happens to pop up right before he was about to take all the awards and press from films directed by white folks. I’m so sure this is the case! I’m going to see the film this weekend!
Power to the people ✊✊✊
I’ve seen the movie and must say that there are 5 movie theaters close by and only 1 showed the movie. So there you have it.
This movie was amazing. I went to see it yesterday and there were only 2 other ppl in the theater and one of them was with me. That’s a shame because this is truly a once in a lifetime sort of film. Usually Hollywood won’t green light a historical film without there being some sort of “white savior” character somewhere in the movie (like Free State of Jones which was also released this year), as Danny Glover was told when he tried to make a historical film adaption of the Haitian Revolution. There are NO white savior characters anywhere in Birth of A Nation, which is why the movies success seems critical. There has never been a movie quite like this, and those who dismiss it as “just another s**** movie” are missing the point that it is not like other s**** movies in that this is Nat Turner leading a s**** insurrection to defeat the white power structure. Just watch the movie and decide for yourself instead of listening to all the trash that’s being written about the movie in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, etc.
I can’t wait to see it
R*****.
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