Losers: US director Robert Redford(L) and US actor Tom Cruise pose before the screening of "Lions for Lambs" in Rome in October 2007; US director Brian De Palma explains his anti-American "Rendition" film; and US actors Reese Witherspoon(L) and Jake Gyllenhaal pose during promotion for their film "Rendition".
Poor antiwar Hollywood is hit hard by the War in Iraq.
The AFP reported:
The wave of recent films set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security has failed to win over film-goers keen to escape grim news headlines when they go to the movies, analysts say.Now, Drew at Ace of Spades reported that "Lions for Lambs" joined the slaughter this weekend.
...Almost without exception, however, the crop of movies have struggled to turn a profit at the box-office and in many cases have received a mauling from unimpressed critics as well.
"Rendition," a drama starring Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal about the CIA's policy of outsourcing interrogation of terror suspects, has taken just under 10 million dollars at the box office, a disastrous return.
Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis's latest film "In the Valley of Elah," about a father investigating the death of his son in Iraq, earned favorable reviews but less than seven million dollars following its release in September.
Drew offers this advice:
"Memo to Hollywood... We don’t hate America as much as you do."Related: Robert Stacy McCain has more on the underground conservative movement in Hollywood at The Washington Times.
The Weekly Standard Blog has more on Hollywood's casualties.
failed to win over film-goers keen to escape grim news headlines when they go to the movies
ReplyDeleteWhere is the market research to indicate that this is the reason the films are tanking? If you look at the reader reviews on these movies on Yahoo, you'll see that Ace's comment captures the majority sentiment.
At BlogWorld, I sat in on a session where the corporate bloggers from Southwest Airlines spoke about the online community they had created with their blog. They called it a huge, instant focus group. That's what the reader reviews at Yahoo are. As a marketer, it's amazing to see someone throw out all the data in front of them and analyze sales results off the top of their heads.
Hold onto your seats, Hollywood. There's more grim milestones coming up this month.
ReplyDeleteHollywood: A bizarre, backwards-revolving world, located in the Californius Idioticus star system, where intelligence, common sense, good taste, and talent are no barriers to financial and professional success.
ReplyDeleteInhabitants of Hollywood display such strange affectations as believing they can tax themselves to prosperity, paying poor-performing executives millions of dollars to "just go away," drinking $10 lattes while complaining about $3.50/gallon gas, and making "movie pitches" to each other--all of which are variants on the same 10 basic plots.
Alas, Hollywood is a dying planet since its inhabitants a) are not reproducing at a replacement level and b) invariably live in overpriced homes near fault lines and drought-dried forests. 'Tis a pity, but it's so.
Maybe it would have been more popular if he didn't try to recycle the '70's reporter-as-hero against the evil USA script? I mean how many freakin' times do you think people want to see the same baloney?
ReplyDeleteKT,
ReplyDeleteYou are assuming that the "analysts" mentioned in the article are in fact actal bona fide analysts. I would guess that they are other leftist journalists, or they would mention their names.
I've gone back to Bugs Bunny reruns. They contain more substance than the recent hollywood junk.
ReplyDelete