After the Golden Globe win and all the Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, “12 Years a Slave” re-opened nationwide hoping to cash in and become everyone’s MLK weekend date night pick.
Maybe it’s a sign that slavery is ready for its close –up.
Not that it has done all that well so far at the box office to date.
As an example, on Saturday, Jan. 11, “Lone Survivor,” a violent, “war buddy-Call to Duty” type film, was No.1 with $14.4 million nationwide that day alone. (It’s earned more than $50 million in 23 weeks.)
“Anchorman 2” with its Filipino racist joke, and Blacks having dinner with Ron Burgundy still brought in 2.6 million that day. (The movie’s grossed over $119 million in 30 weeks. My take on its race flaws are here: http://aaldef.org/blog/anchorman-2-movie-didnt-need-racist-ethnic-joke-against-filipinos.html )
And way down in the list on Jan. 11 was “12 Years a Slave,” with just $127,000 that day. (It’s brought in just $39 million in 91 weeks, but with international openings this week, looks on pace to make about $100 million.)
America’s taste is America’s taste. And commercial success is all relative. Melvin Van Peebles would have liked to have had those numbers. “Sweet Sweetback’s Badass Song” in 1971 reportedly grossed $15 million in its lifetime.
