Posted on 07/18/2011 11:11:08 AM PDT by fantail 1952
The film grossed between $60,000 to $75,000 after opening in 10 theaters this weekend, leading its backers to call it a success.
The Sarah Palin documentary Undefeated opened in 10 theaters this weekend and earned about $60,000 to $75,000 -- leading its backers to tell The Hollywood Reporter it was a success.
"We didn't put a nickel of P&A into this and the distributor had the movie for only three weeks. To describe this as anything but a hit is inaccurate,” director-writer Stephen Bannon said on Sunday. "This is a documentary opening against Harry Potter on the toughest weekend of the year. We had small numbers but only in small theaters. In bigger markets, like Orange County, we'll do $12,000 per screen."
So what are the critics saying about the movie?
"A partisan piece stitched together using positive sound bites about Sarah Palin that will get media attention simply for its subject, though it isn't a must-see film by any means," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy in his review.
"Puzzlingly titled The Undefeated in that its heroine lost the last election in which she ran and subsequently stepped down from her job as governor of Alaska before her term was up, this narrowly conceived valentine calls upon a vast chorus of coworkers, friends and admirers to numbingly defend everything she's ever said or done and to champion her as a maverick politician with a real connection to the people. Set to begin theatrical runs next week in select houses nationwide, this will attract media attention in the way that anything to do with Palin invariably does (all the more so because it's favorable), but nothing about the film earmarks it as a must-see anywhere other than in the living rooms of die-hard loyalists,"he adds.
(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...
Can't wait to see the list of theaters it will be shown in for the coming weeks. Have a feeling that this may be one of the top ten grossing docs of all time!
So when do we expect anything that praises conservatism to be liked by Hollywood? Come on.
My Dad donated to sarahpac.com and we’re waiting for the DVD!
WOOHOO.
Run Sarah Run!
“Todd McCarthy in his review.”
Todd ? Toady ,here is a Homo African Nincompoop supporter,who has NO background and Never did anything aside from studying racism in the Wright house of hate for 22 years! Now there is Todds MAN!!!!!!
Viewers of ‘The Undefeated’ speak out (brought forth admiration and tears)
How can anyone expect anything else, but a bad review about anything Conservative ,from the Hollywood Reporter.
Just a little tip for ya, Hollywood Regurgitator.... When a person gets knocked down, but gets back up and continues swinging, they are "undefeated" by definition.
Unfortunately, most modern readers will gloss right past that sentence without even noticing the cockamamie reasoning.
Selling DVD’s in Walmart would be the way to go.. (at a reduced price)..
OK - a couple of things:
Clearly the critics won’t like it. Most critics are liberal trash, so they’ll only like movies about how Obama saved the world, the military delights in raping and killing babies, and how big oil just wants to ruin the planet.
I *really* like how out of 665 user reviews on RottenTomatoes.com, 0% liked it. Yeah... right... Tell me DU doesn’t have their fingerprints on that.
BUT...
The opening was OK, but not hugely successful. It took in less that $10k per screen. $10k+ per screen would have been “successful.” And, sadly, a movie like this drops off the cliff on subsequent weeks. That’s just the truth. Movies like Restrepo can grow after their limited release, but political documentaries pull out the faithful first and then only the curious second.
So, let’s be honest. It will not be a top ten grossing documentary of all time. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts on that.
That little deal has already been done. Look for them when the movie finishes its run. These will likely be the theater version.
Expect the special edition to include several take-outs that would give the theater version an "R" rating.
haha
“The Undefeated” is the title of a short story by Hemingway. Too bad Todd McCarthy never read it. He might have understood. If he’s a slow reader, he can rent the 1969 movie and pretty much come to a similar understanding of what the title means and why it is used here.
I would guess that he never saw it himself.
LLS
I might agree completely with you if this were a politician using conventional methods in normal(?) times.
So far, Sarah has been anything but conventional in every way. Her use of the Internet media, her manipulation of the soon-to-be extinct MSM, her use of guerrilla tactics in pre-announcement campaigning, and her leaving the GOP reservation by embracing TEA parties. the bus trip, and so on.
Now, this film! Whether it is a smash success or not isn't all that important in the sense that it seems that the commie left is mounting a large part of their diminishing assets to slam it just gives it, and her, credibility. An old saying is that"The only bad publicity is none at all" is very true here. As if she needs more name recognition, this just adds to it.
Conventional politics took a tremendous hit in 2010, largely due to Sarahs efforts, and that was the left jab. The knockout punch is following next year, and not just in the race for POTUS, but very much in the down ballot.
I look forward to her campaign next year and believe that it will be the most unconventional and likely the most successful in the history of America.
Sun-tzu and Ronald Reagan would be proud!
Hemingway’s story is about bullfighting. The movie is about the civil war. Not the same story I don’t believe. Do you mean they have the same general theme?
New critics, same as old critics?
Uh, aren’t the majority of these critics the same ones who have been viciously attacking Palin 24/7 ever since she appeared on the national scene in 2008?
The guy who wrote the story about the unadvertised, empty, Thursday midnight showing of The Undefeated has a new article out. (Barf Alert).
How I Became the Subject of a Conspiracy Theory
Conor Friedersdorf
These highly predictable reviews were written long before the theaters opened their doors.
It is a common practice among reviewers to write reviews either before seeing the films (or without ever seeing the film. In the newspaper biz they are regarded as the laziest idiots on the payroll.
The numbers Bannon was shooting for (to be a success) was $5,000 per screen. Clearly, the numbers were a pleasant surprise.
It will be in that range once it is available on DVD. Many conservatives haven't been to a movie theater in a while. Why spend $10 a pop (before snacks) to be politically insulted in both a blatant and subtext style? Better to rent something from Redbox, Netflix etc. at a fraction of the price and in the comfort of your own home.
This will be a huge DVD success in the realm of documentaries.
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