Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, reviewed earlier on this site, opened strong this weekend, leading the movie box office race with a take of $14.2 million. That is much less than the opening weekend take of Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which brought in $83.8 million in its first weekend in 2004.
Overall box office was down 25 percent from the same weekend last year, when The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opened. However, the relatively strong performance of Gibson's movie, which has no big stars and is set in the past and spoken in a defunct foreign language translated in subtitles, suggests that his recent run-in with the law and controversial statements made while under the influence of alcohol did not harm the film's appeal.
In fact, the publicity surrounding the incident and Gibson's contriteness may actually have spurred some interest in the film, according to an industry analyst quoted by the Associated Press. AP notes that the film's appeal was fairly broad: "Disney reported that Gibson's Apocalypto drew solid crowds across-the-board, with movie-goers equally split between men and women and the core of the audience ranging from 18 to 45."
From Karnick on Culture.
I disagree with the AP's "industry analyst," much as I suspect whatever the AP presents as fact or even intelligent analysis disguised as news these days.
ReplyDelete$14 million on opening ain't squat.
Mel Gibson doesn't get one dime from me, and I think millions of Americans feel the same way. Not quite the same as Jews refusing to buy Hitler's car, the Volkswagen, after the Holocaust, but we all do what we can.
Art, schmart, and you can quote me.
In this case, I think you're overreacting terribly. What he did in that highly publicized incident was certainly not good or defensible, but it wasn't exactly like killing millions of people, and he apologized sincerely and repeatedly. Movie stars shouldn't have to be like Caesar's wife. I strongly suggest that you get over it.
ReplyDeleteTom, I also think you're overreacting. What I saw in Gibson's meltdown and aftermath was a man who acknowledges and repents of, not his "disease" or his "condition" but of his sin. Some Christians don't like it when a professed Christian fails in public. They say it gives Christianity a bad image. I say it demonstrates exactly what Christ came for -- to redeem sinners.
ReplyDelete"Lord I am not worthy to receive you" -- "I confess to Almighty God that I have sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do" -- if we are in good standing, you and I, we repeat those words in public at least once a week.
That said, I haven't seen Apocalypto and I probably won't. I don't understand why Christmas is considered such a good time for theaters, I never have a spare moment between Thanksgiving and Epiphany.