2016 Obama’s America: Organized misinformation campaign against 2016 movie as box-office grosses plummet?
Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan’s 2016 Obama’s America was down 53% at the North American box office this past weekend after losing 660 venues. In other words, the 2016 movie lost about one third of its theaters; as a result, its box-office take dropped a little above the 50% mark on weekend no. 11. There’s absolutely nothing unusual about that. Dinesh D’Souza and 2016 Obama’s America distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures, however, think otherwise. (Photo: 2016 Obama’s America trailer.)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rocky Mountain Pictures president Randy Slaughter has said that a pirated copy of 2016 Obama’s America surfaced on YouTube over the weekend. Both FBI and YouTube were reportedly contacted, and the uploaded video was taken down. Could that have noticeably affected the 2016 movie’s box-office take this past weekend? Hardly.
But there’s more: THR explains that over the weekend mass emails and several online blog posts announced that 2016 Obama’s America was going to be shown on Fox News on Sunday. Fox News says it has no plans of showing the film.
Dinesh D’Souza: Anti-2016 movie conspiracy
“The reports of the movie appearing on Fox before the election are completely untrue," Dinesh D’Souza declared, "and we strongly suspect that they are the result of dirty tricks by our opponents who spread this rumor in order to confuse the general public and keep them from going to their local theaters."
If so, what an idiotic waste of time on the part of D’Souza’s and 2016 Obama’s America‘s "opponents." After all, the 2016 movie is fast on its way out.
True, the anti-Obama doc has been a sleeper hit and is officially the second highest-grossing political documentary in U.S. history. (Well, at least since 1982, and even then that should be taken with a grain of salt, as Box Office Mojo’s pre-1995 documentary box-office chart is clearly incomplete.) But at no. 17 on the North American box-office chart this past weekend, 2016 Obama’s America took in only $938k at 1,216 locations, averaging a measly $771 per venue.
So, why on earth would anyone in his/her right (or left, as the case may be) mind want to keep people "from going to their local theaters" to watch a movie that so few moviegoers care about at this stage? If an organized anti-2016 Obama’s America effort truly exists, then those guys have arrived on the scene a little too late. They should have acted five weeks ago, when the 2016 movie began its initially popular expansion.
As for Dinesh D’Souza’s "conspiracy theory," it sounds like D’Souza has become an overzealous Michael Moore pupil. I mean, when Moore accused Walt Disney Studios’ top dog Michael Eisner of trying to keep people "from going to their local theaters" to watch his movie, he did have a point — in 2004, Eisner attempted to block the release of the anti-George W. Bush Fahrenheit 9/11. In fact, things got so ugly at the time that Miramax’s Bob and Harvey Weinstein severed ties with Disney, which had been distributing their studio’s films.
Eventually, Lionsgate, IFC Films and the Weinsteins’ newly set-up Fellowship Adventure Group handled the distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11. And as proof that in Hollywood — much like on Wall Street and Main Street — all that matters is money (and power), Lionsgate Home Entertainment will be releasing 2016 Obama’s America on DVD next Oct. 16. Liberal conspiracy indeed.
2016 Obama’s America tops ‘Worldwide’ chart — but without the help of international moviegoers
With a domestic cume of $32.02m (according to Box Office Mojo), 2016 Obama’s America has officially outgrossed the Katy Perry concert movie Katy Perry: Part of Me — cume: $31.91m — to become the most successful 2012 non-fiction film at the "worldwide" box office. Yet, that feat is the result solely of the domestic market, as Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan’s documentary has absolutely no international following.
And as mentioned in my previous 2016 post, expect 2016 Obama’s America‘s box-office take to plummet once again next weekend. No, not because of some inane, attention-grabbing conspiracy theory. But simply because, as mentioned above, the 2016 movie’s per-theater average is extremely low, which means fewer venues willing to screen it next Friday.
Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan’s 2016 Obama’s America was down 53% at the North American box office this past weekend after losing 660 venues. In other words, the 2016 movie lost about one third of its theaters; as a result, its box-office take dropped a little above the 50% mark on weekend no. 11. There’s absolutely nothing unusual about that. Dinesh D’Souza and 2016 Obama’s America distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures, however, think otherwise. (Photo: 2016 Obama’s America trailer.)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rocky Mountain Pictures president Randy Slaughter has said that a pirated copy of 2016 Obama’s America surfaced on YouTube over the weekend. Both FBI and YouTube were reportedly contacted, and the uploaded video was taken down. Could that have noticeably affected the 2016 movie’s box-office take this past weekend? Hardly.
But there’s more: THR explains that over the weekend mass emails and several online blog posts announced that 2016 Obama’s America was going to be shown on Fox News on Sunday. Fox News says it has no plans of showing the film.
Dinesh D’Souza: Anti-2016 movie conspiracy
“The reports of the movie appearing on Fox before the election are completely untrue," Dinesh D’Souza declared, "and we strongly suspect that they are the result of dirty tricks by our opponents who spread this rumor in order to confuse the general public and keep them from going to their local theaters."
If so, what an idiotic waste of time on the part of D’Souza’s and 2016 Obama’s America‘s "opponents." After all, the 2016 movie is fast on its way out.
True, the anti-Obama doc has been a sleeper hit and is officially the second highest-grossing political documentary in U.S. history. (Well, at least since 1982, and even then that should be taken with a grain of salt, as Box Office Mojo’s pre-1995 documentary box-office chart is clearly incomplete.) But at no. 17 on the North American box-office chart this past weekend, 2016 Obama’s America took in only $938k at 1,216 locations, averaging a measly $771 per venue.
So, why on earth would anyone in his/her right (or left, as the case may be) mind want to keep people "from going to their local theaters" to watch a movie that so few moviegoers care about at this stage? If an organized anti-2016 Obama’s America effort truly exists, then those guys have arrived on the scene a little too late. They should have acted five weeks ago, when the 2016 movie began its initially popular expansion.
As for Dinesh D’Souza’s "conspiracy theory," it sounds like D’Souza has become an overzealous Michael Moore pupil. I mean, when Moore accused Walt Disney Studios’ top dog Michael Eisner of trying to keep people "from going to their local theaters" to watch his movie, he did have a point — in 2004, Eisner attempted to block the release of the anti-George W. Bush Fahrenheit 9/11. In fact, things got so ugly at the time that Miramax’s Bob and Harvey Weinstein severed ties with Disney, which had been distributing their studio’s films.
Eventually, Lionsgate, IFC Films and the Weinsteins’ newly set-up Fellowship Adventure Group handled the distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11. And as proof that in Hollywood — much like on Wall Street and Main Street — all that matters is money (and power), Lionsgate Home Entertainment will be releasing 2016 Obama’s America on DVD next Oct. 16. Liberal conspiracy indeed.
2016 Obama’s America tops ‘Worldwide’ chart — but without the help of international moviegoers
With a domestic cume of $32.02m (according to Box Office Mojo), 2016 Obama’s America has officially outgrossed the Katy Perry concert movie Katy Perry: Part of Me — cume: $31.91m — to become the most successful 2012 non-fiction film at the "worldwide" box office. Yet, that feat is the result solely of the domestic market, as Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan’s documentary has absolutely no international following.
And as mentioned in my previous 2016 post, expect 2016 Obama’s America‘s box-office take to plummet once again next weekend. No, not because of some inane, attention-grabbing conspiracy theory. But simply because, as mentioned above, the 2016 movie’s per-theater average is extremely low, which means fewer venues willing to screen it next Friday.
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