Box Office Mojo is a universally accepted and respected source for box-office numbers, mainly because they’ve always done a very professional job of sticking to numbers and avoiding the business and political nonsense that tarnishes so many others. As of today, they’re reporting that at 10 locations, “The Undefeated” grossed $65,132, or $6513 per screen during its opening weekend. We also know that at some locations, director Steve Bannon’s documentary sold out completely and garnered as much as $10,000 per screen. But for argument’s sake, let’s use Box Office Mojo and take a sober look at how well the Palin documentary did in the best kind of apples-to-apples comparison available — and that’s in the genre of political documentaries and the number of screens it opened on.
Fair enough?
You with me so far?
As you can see in the Box Office Mojo the chart below (original here), which looks at historical theatrical opening weekend numbers of political documentaries going back 20 years, “The Undefeated” did remarkably well in the only categories that matter:
Compared to every other political documentary ever made…
1. “The Undefeated” ranks as #15 in the all-time highest grossing debut category (and this includes Michael Moore’s unique hold on this category). However — and this is a mighty important however — nine of the films ranked above the Palin doc opened on more screens — in some cases, hundreds more.
2. On a comparative number of screens (less than 10), “The Undefeated” enjoyed the fifth highest-grossing debut in the history of political documentaries.
3. Opening on a comparative number of screens (5 to 25), “The Undefeated” enjoyed the sixth highest per-screen average in the history of political documentaries.
The dishonest MSM is currently out there using words like “tepid” and “flop” and are desperate to not trip over their own well-groomed anti-Palin narratives by providing the proper context when it comes to these numbers; which clearly prove that for what it is — a political documentary — “The Undefeated” is kicking all kinds of box-office ass when compared to its counterparts.
Moreover, I dare any President Obama partisan in Hollywood or the media to produce a feature-length, biographical documentary and release it in theatres. In fact, I double-dog dare you. Let’s see the per-screen average of a film adaptation of that biography Bill Ayers wrote for Obama. Let’s see Conor Klink’s report on an opening-day afternoon screening of “Dreams from My Father: The Sanctimoniously Dull and Condescending Motion Picture.”
Other than finally telling the truth about Sarah Palin the corrupt MSM has intentionally covered up for going on three years now, “The Undefeated” has no cinematic hook whatsoever.
No big controversy, nothing lewd, zero scandal.
Its attraction is merely “the other side of the story,” and in that genre it’s easily the biggest box-office hit of all time.
ADDED: In the comments someone compares the per screen of “The Undefeated” to EVERY political documentary released on fewer than 10 screens, all the way down to one, two, and three screens. This is not apples-to-apples when you’re talking about a film released on ten screens. But even with that apples-to-oranges comparison, the Palin doc comes in at #11 ALL-TIME.
Again, though, that’s a misleading comparison. In some markets “The Undefeated” sold out and grossed as much as $10,00 per screen. Had the film’s roll-out been scheduled in just a few targeted markets instead of ten, obviously this would’ve resulted in a higher per screen average. That’s why many films open on just one screen or two or three — to game the per screen in the hopes of ginning up attention and buzz.
Above, I compared “The Undefeated’s” per screen to other political docs released on anywhere from 5 to 25 screens. That’s a much more accurate way to judge the film’s performance.
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