Bill Maher Kicks Zucker's Conservative Ass at the Box Office

[marmar]

via AlterNet's PEEK:



Bill Maher Kicks Zucker's Conservative Ass at the Box Office

Posted by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake at 3:33 PM on October 6, 2008.

The per-screen average of Religulous was three times that of the conservative film An American Carol.




I'll put on my Hollywood hat just for a minute so I can lead a chorus of righteous laughter at the colossal failure of the persecuted Hollywood conservatives behind An American Carol.

Here's how it fared over the weekend, when stacked up against Bill Maher's Religulous:

American Carol
Box Office Gross $3,810,000
# Screens 1,639
Average $2,325

Religulous
Box Office Gross $3,500,000
# Screens 502
Average $6,972

What does this tell us?

Both films were in their first week of release, which means that it's apples to apples. Both had the benefit of their opening week marketing pushes.

Note that Religulous, however, was on less than one third of the screens that American Carol was. Which means that An American Carol should by all rights have done three times the boxoffice of Religulous. But it didn't -- gross box office receipts were largely the same.

The per-screen average of Religulous was three times that of An American Carol. Three times as many people showed up in each theater to see it.

As Atrios notes, there's no way that the wingnuts can argue that their humor free comedy didn't get a good push.

Bottom line: Hollywood is in the business of making money. There's no conspiracy going on against conservatives. When moviegoers have to vote with their dollars, it's just that nobody wants to see their shit.


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/101863/bill_maher_kicks_zucker%27s_conservative_ass_at_the_box_office/#more

[klook]

1. And, by the way, whatever happened

to that "comedy" show Fox put on the air to compete with Stewart and Colbert?

Thanks for the report - the previews of "An American Carol" look dreadful and clumsy.

[Az]

2. Comedy does not work from the conservative point of view

Comedy is the little guy speaking truth to power. Its the tramp getting the last word in. Its the down trodden getting a leg up on the fat cats. Reverse that and you get oppression rather than humor. When those in power mock the little guy it is derision. When the fat cats chuckle at the plight of the homeless it is insensitivity.

Humor just does not work from the conservative point of view.

[KharmaTrain]

3. The Truth Has A Liberal Spin...

I went to see Religulous on Sunday...theater was more than half-full and everyone appeared to be getting into the movie. It's one that is both amusing and sure to make you think.

The wingnuts have this love/hate relationship with Hollywood. American Carol has little draw...a lot of has-beens while Mahrer reaches millions every week. I saw Bill this summer at a very crowded Chicago Theater...the place rocked. I don't think you'd get the same reaction for Kelsey Grammar. In music, it's the difference of a Bruce Springsteen release vs. that of a revival of Abba.

Methinks the original intent of Zucker's waste of celluloid was to counter what he was sure was gonna be another Farenheit 9/11 or some other Moore project or other "librul" movie...and it just didn't happen. My bets are in a month this loser will be off the screens and into the discount racks at Blockbuster while the Mahrer movie will still be drawing audiences.

[JHB]

5. I think Zucker's just jealous of Moore...

Fahrenheit 9/11' box office earnings beat out Zucker's personal best (Scary Movie 3) (not adjusted for inflation).
This from a (ptoooie) documentary film maker, not a REAL filmmaker (which would be a feature film maker like Zucker).

That's a theme "Carol" harps on relentlessly -- that and how Malone (the Moore cut-out)'s movies are complete bombs that on one sees unless under orders from their "stuck in 1968" college professors.

And domestically, "Sicko" and Zucker-produced "Superhero Movie" did about the same.

I think Moore's success with general audiences just sticks in Zucker's craw.

[VWolf]

4. Anyone who thought that piece of trash

would do well at the box office was delusional.

[UTUSN]

6. K&R #3 n/t

[ProgressiveFool]

7. Ha! and how many of those viewers are ideo-warrior repeating freeps determined to make it succeed

Only they could stand it, I'm sure. The rest of us would have to be hooked up Clockwork Orange style to sit through the whole thing.

[JHB]

8. ...or determined to see it to give it an honest review.

:hi:

It's a binary laugh riot. It's only funny if you drink the Koolaid first.*

*(except for a couple of gags, but those are recycled from "Airplane!")

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. I wouldn't give the fucker the satisfaction.

I also won't give him my money to let him make more propaganda.

[Ian David]

9. I saw Religulous and I loved it!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x184822

[lame54]

10. They ran the ads for An American Carol constantly...

I only saw the ad for Religulous a few times

Wow- Religulous came up on my spell check - imagine that

[OakCliffDem]

11. Bill Maher is one funny guy

[fudge stripe cookays]

13. I just can't take him seriously.

He dated freaking Ann Coulter. I hope that's what woke him up.

[OakCliffDem]

15. Dating Ann Coulter just gave him more material

The funniest stuff is true. What better place to get funny stuff about conservative right wing nuts than the blond Nazi Coulter?

[XanaDUer]

14. Didn't you hear? It's all a communist-muslim plot cooked up by imdb and amazon...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4176584&mesg_id=4176584