To the shock of many, Lee Daniels ‘ The Butler topped this weekend’s box office with $25 million — trumping the debuts of Kick Ass 2 , Jobs , and Harrison Ford ‘s Paranoia which didn’t even make the top 12.
Shadow And Act attributes the film’s success to a stellar PR machine, opening after all the summer blockbusters and its older audience.
However, accounting for a significant amount of ticket sales were Black church groups who bought tickets in advance and in bulk, according to The Weinstein Company, box office analysts, and exit-poll takers.
It probably doesn’t hurt that the movie features an all-star, predominantly Black cast that includes Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Colman Domingo, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Melissa Leo, Liev Schreiber, Jesse Williams, Aml Ameen, Lenny Kravitz, Cuba Gooding Jr and more.
And on a personal note, with the film’s criticism in mind, I felt like it effectively compiled A LOT of history into a very complex story that has been fun to dissect with others.
With all that said, the film is also expected to be a major Oscars contender . Are you surprised?
1) Lee Daniels’ The Butler Wein. $25,010,000
2) We’re the Millers WB $17,780,000 Total:$69,513,000
3) Elysium TriS $13,600,000 Total:$55,914,000
4) Kick-Ass 2 Uni. $13,568,000
5) Planes BV $13,141,000 Total:$45,090,000
6) Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Fox $8,375,000 Total:$38,904,000
7) Jobs ORF $6,700,000
8) 2 Guns Uni. $5,572,000 Total:$59,221,000
9) The Smurfs 2 Sony $4,600,000 Total:$56,912,000
10) The Wolverine Fox $4,425,000 Total:$120,458,000
11) The Conjuring WB $3,910,000 Total:$127,863,000
12) Despicable Me 2 Uni. $3,781,000 Total:$345,988,000
