An Inconvenient Flop
posted at 7:10 pm on June 1, 2006 by Bryan
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A reader tipped me to this–Algore’s An Inconvenient Truth is currently doing some crummy biz at the box office. According to The Numbers, Gore’s PowerPoint turned crockumentary is playing in exactly 4 theaters. Four.
You have to figure that those four–four–theaters are in Gore-friendly territory. They’re probably all in the Bay Area, plus maybe one somewhere in New York. So how are they doing?
Well, the film has earned a little under $500k, or about $70k per screen on the four screens it’s playing on, since it opened on May 24. At an estimated $10.50 per ticket, that means the former Vice President’s film has sold about 6700 tickets. In just under a week.
To put that in perspective, Gore’s film has reached about the same size audience as a medium-sized to large blog’s daily readership. But his film has taken a week to get there. So he’s actually selling less than a thousand tickets a day, in the few theaters in friendly blue regions that decided to play his film.
I’m thinking that this doesn’t bode well for any future political aspirations Gore might have.
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I bet you he will try to push this piece of phony science documentary to the campuses and charging a buck a person to see. Many liberal professors will make it part of the course credit to see it.
They will do it. I bet you.
easy87us on June 1, 2006 at 7:19 PM
This is great. Gore looks and sounds like he has finally lost it (if he ever had it). Why doesn’t this guy just go away and shut up? He can just fade away and take credit for his two biggest accomplishments – inventing the internet and fixing things so we don’t get enough water in our johns to flush them properly.
OBX Pete on June 1, 2006 at 7:25 PM
Oh yes. Yes, they will. it will either get extra credit or it will be required for passing the class.
Gore’s an inconvient goof.
NTWR on June 1, 2006 at 7:25 PM
But it was reviewed in Slate, Salon, the Onion AV Club… oh, wait, right.
Jim Treacher on June 1, 2006 at 7:29 PM
OMG…..I am so forwarding this to a certain ‘tard over at Metroblogging Los Angeles.
The Ugly American on June 1, 2006 at 7:39 PM
As Sam Goldwyn said about one of his pictures, “They stayed away in droves”.
Crude One on June 1, 2006 at 7:52 PM
Has the book (tie-in – woohoo!) been released yet? I can’t wait to see how, er, well that sells.
I can’t believe this dude was actually our VP for 8 years.
Fly_in_Ointment on June 1, 2006 at 8:17 PM
Fly,
He WAS our VP for 8 years. kind of amazing, isn’t it? makes me wonder if americans really ARE stupid to have actually voted him in not once, but twice. yikes.
pullingmyhairout on June 1, 2006 at 8:24 PM
Most people vote primarily for the president not really caring who the v.p. is. And, yes, Americans were stupid enough to vote in Clinton twice (Ross Perot helped).
docdave on June 1, 2006 at 8:28 PM
sales mean NOTHING TO US
That’s just evil capitalism talk
signed
the genius behind brokeback mountain
Defector01 on June 1, 2006 at 8:58 PM
LOL Defector…
The Ugly American on June 1, 2006 at 9:26 PM
Umm…do you guys have any idea of how the whole box office system works??
Gore’s film was released in only 4 theatres, thus meaning it was statistically IMPOSSIBLE for it to earn millions upon millions of dollars in its opening weekend. For perspective, X-Men 3 opened this past weekend in nearly 4000 theatres. That’s a thousand times more theatres than An Inconvenient Truth. Yet it only earned about $30000 PER theatre, whereas Gore’s earned about $70000. What does this mean? It means Gore’s film was FILLING MORE THEATRES. While I doubt it will achieve blockbuster status when it eventually does roll out into 1000+ theatres, I think you guys are jumping the gun a bit and not providing enough perspective. Per-screen averages are a fairly new way of determining early successes in the market. If the box office chart were numbered based on per-screen averages, then Gore’s film would have been number one. Now, if the film had debuted in 2000 screens last weekend and grossed a paltry $1,000,000, then you guys would have sufficient cause to bash it. However, it’s too early.
Don’t flame me. I’m really not trying to crash the party here. I just think you guys needed some perspective. I know all you conservatives hate Hollywood, so I just figured you may not have a clue as to how box office stats work. ;-)
mxmat2 on June 1, 2006 at 11:00 PM
The stats about the number of screens is obviously incorrect. There are about 7 screens here locally in the DC metro are playing the film.
But the rest of the information is correct. His box office take was under 285k for a nationwide opening.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
I actually sent in the tip on this one-
I blogged it here ( http://www.belch.com/~blog/2006/05/30/gore-movie-is-eco-flop/ )
and said:
BelchSpeak on June 1, 2006 at 11:26 PM
Belch,
Some theatres don’t report to box office tracking firms. If what you’re saying is true (that there are actually 7 theatres showing the film), then I bet the box office would bump up quite a bit. Again, this wasn’t a NATIONWIDE opening as you’ve just written. It’s what’s called a “LIMITED” opening in the top markets, LA and New York. You may want to do some research. According to Yahoo! Showtimes feature, An Inconvenient Truth hasn’t even opened ANYWHERE in Washington, DC. Doing a zip-code search using 20001, it comes up with three theatres who will be debuting the film TOMORROW. So I don’t know what you’re talking about re: the film playing in DC. It only officially opened in LA and NY, a standard for films of that kind. Here’s the link:
An Inconvenient Truth in DC–Starts June 2
Fact is, just based on the per-screen average from last weekend, the film did very well. Let’s wait a couple weeks to really judge. The standard for documentaries, now, is obviously Fahrenheit 9/11, which made over $100 million domestically. However, I would say the breaking point for An Inconvenient Truth would need to be at least $20 million to be considered somewhat of a success. Let’s face it: Documentaries, by their very nature, don’t do very well. Save for Fahrenheit and March of the Penguins, they’re aimed at very limited audiences. Is there a big chance Gore’s film will flop in the long run? Heck yeah. I’m just saying it’s too soon to make that judgment.
Get back to me when you get the names of those theatres showing the film.
mxmat2 on June 1, 2006 at 11:34 PM
Pullingmyhairout,
Here’s hoping that the people who were stupid enough to vote for Clinton/Bore twice aren’t stupid enough to vote for Gore, Clinton, or any combination thereof in ‘08. I won’t hold my breath, but I’ll keep hope alive…
Fly_in_Ointment on June 2, 2006 at 12:58 AM
mxmat2,
You make an excellent point – based on a per screen average, the movie had an impressive opening weekend take (and yes, I’m one of those conservatives who understands and follows Hollywood box office stats). However, I’m not so sure whether a couple more weeks is going to make much of a difference — at least at this rate. After all, the movie is only showing in a handful of theaters (Boxofficemojo.com is still reporting only 4, though I suspect that number will change this weekend). Why so few, if this is such an “important film?” Also, notwithstanding all the political shows on which I’ve seen trailers of the movie, I’ve yet to see a trailer air on any of the major non-news networks. Absent any decent publicity, it’s difficult to imagine that the film will become a breakout hit on the level of “Fahrenheit 911″ or “Super Size Me.” Like you, however, I’m willing to take a wait-and-see approach. Hell, I might even consider seeing it (depending on how much of a laugh I need), if it ever comes to a theater near me…
Fly_in_Ointment on June 2, 2006 at 1:18 AM
There are enough loonies out there that will pay to see drivel, whether or not it’s truthful, as long as it sends the usual, doom and gloom message or something negative about the Prez. Frankly I think they’re misguided and wasting time and energy. He’s capable of shooting himself in both feet with one shot.
RolandHall on June 2, 2006 at 1:26 AM
How can this be? The media made a big deal about the movie, and even floated the idea that Gore might gain enough momentum to run for the White House. If the media said this, it must be true, right? RIGHT?!?
jaleach on June 2, 2006 at 1:28 AM
A bad movie is a bad movie no matter what the media say.
Ron on June 2, 2006 at 1:42 AM
Actually, Gore might have more luck having neighborhood video parties, sort of like Tupperware parties, and play his “movie” for rabid enthusiasts in places like San Francisco, Mill Valley, Hollywood and New York City. People could all sit around sipping bottled water and nibbling sunflower seeds while they comb the hair on their legs and watch the show.
As long as each person sponsoring a “video party” bought a copy of his movie, he would end up sitting pretty, with what, $37 in the bank.
clyde on June 2, 2006 at 4:47 AM
The real money’s not in the box office, it comes later in the sales of “eco-friendly” Gorezilla action figures and accessories…
elgeneralisimo on June 2, 2006 at 7:59 AM
In my book this is a “win win” situation. If it’s the flop it appears to be then great. But if it isn’t, then look at how many more people will learn what a pompous ass he really is.
Is it true that he flunked out of Divinity school or was it when he found out the courses weren’t about him, he quit?
Bob Mileti on June 2, 2006 at 8:37 AM
It is not the number of total attendance that defines whether it is a good movie or not. One can have a big number with more theaters showing, but the total number reveals nothing. What the cinema use is the average attendance per show to determine how long they want to keep the movie on. Based on the number we saw, I think Al Gore pulled in 300 per show at the opening and dropped to less than 100 per show the next week.
It is best for him to open at locations where liberals are abundant. If he open in Olkahoma he would be lucky to pull in 20 per show. So more theaters do not help, better location helps.
Based on the average attendance per show, it is not a hot movie by any means. But for a documentary, it ain’t bad.
easy87us on June 2, 2006 at 9:11 AM
mxmat2 is missing one important point with his stats. Bookings. No movie gets bookings from theater owners if it’s a dog. That is, unless the theater is tied to major studios which can withold big movies if they don’t play the stinkers (Garfield goes to Great Britain in the sequel to his first big smash).
So, without major studio pressure, theaters owners had an opportunity to book the Gore movie on it’s own merits. And “passed on it in droves.” Those in the comments who forsee this movie being incorporated into school classes are right.
Didn’t Moore’s F-911 movie make it onto campus?
Doug on June 2, 2006 at 9:52 AM
The only inconvenient truth I’ve been educated to about this whole debacle is that al bore is an “true believer”… and a complete idiot.
RH
RobertHuntingdon on June 2, 2006 at 11:00 AM
Yes, Gore is an evil cyborg liar, BUT conservatives must not exaggerate box office figures to suit their political leanings. The Right was proclaiming “Brokeback Mountain” a giant flop when actually it did quite well for an art house flick with limited appeal. Because it made less than “Star Wars” doesn’t mean it was a bomb.
As for AIT – see my revised poster here – note that it’s showing only in the deepest blue cities where the Left will flock to support it regardless of quality, much as they suddenly like country music when the Dixie Chicks trash Dubya.
When nationwide analysis of the box office for “Farginghype 7-11″ was done, it was found that it made it’s money in the Blue states and bombed in the Red. Moore was able to pretend that EVERYONE was seeing it – not that the Treason Media would blow the whistle on his lies – when actually he was fleecing the flock in the choir loft.
But, why are we talking reality in a thread about Al Gore? Don’t you know that these are mutually exclusive concepts?
DirkBelig on June 2, 2006 at 11:41 AM
Maybe its just too HOT to go to his stupid movie…hehehe
And you are arguing about Gores flick?
shooter on June 2, 2006 at 1:38 PM
Fly,
Cheers to you! Let’s all raise a glass to defeating the libs in ‘06. I’ll be drinking a nice margarita with a pretty umbrella, sitting in my backyard, soaking up the ozone and breathing in the nice smell of bouganvilla and the local refinery, all while admiring my new Hummer and running the a/c full blast with the doors open so i can listen to my american country music. he he he he he.
pullingmyhairout on June 2, 2006 at 3:28 PM
pullingmyhairout,
Don’t forget your gas grill and red meat! Cheers!
Fly_in_Ointment on June 2, 2006 at 9:44 PM
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