4th of July Fireworks and Box Office Bombs

This 4th of July Weekend, as our nation celebrates its freedom, there seems to be a spirit of revolution in the air.

It’s becoming more and more noticeable. Americans are fed up and just not going to take it anymore.

For an example, look at this weekend’s box office receipts:

Larry Crowne, a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Julie Roberts is bombing bigger than Hiroshima. The stinker, produced, directed, and co-written by Hanks, as reported by deadline.com…

…finished a dismal #4 with just a $13.5M three-day weekend and $16.7M four-day holiday from a wide release into 2,972 theaters. That’s a very disappointing start for two stars who individually should be able to open a new pic to at least $20M of North American grosses for a three-day weekend and presumably more when paired. (Their last film together, 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, also bombed.) Their latest pic received a ‘B’ Cinemascore, but just ‘C+’ from audience members under age 35. Good thing Universal was only distributing, and good thing the film’s negative cost was only $30M fully financed by Vendome Pictures. But the marketing cost was at least another $30M high with a heavy rotation of expensive TV ads. This is the third movie with major stars to disappoint at the box office this summer following Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern and Jim Carrey in Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

…Even though the two stars did any and all publicity for it, this is a bigger repudiation for Hanks who went on a rare 5-city personal appearance tour, his first since promoting Saving Private Ryan, and met with regional press in every one of those cities. He and Roberts appeared on one of Oprah’s final shows together in early May, which re-aired this week, but Hanks also personally co-hosted Oprah’s final two blowout shows personally.

…Right now total U.S. and Canadian moviegoing for the holiday looks like $230M, which is trailing last year’s $250M but still the 2nd biggest Fourth Of July long weekend ever.

Why is this movie bombing so spectacularly? Why are Americans staying away from the movies?

Well, the first reason is, thanks to Obama’s Economy, no one can afford to go.

Secondly, why should hard-working Americans support a bunch of Hollywood Liberal Elitists who think we’re all ignorant?

For example, from foxnews.com, 1/16/2009:

Tom Hanks, an Executive Producer for HBO’s controversial polygamist series “Big Love,” made his feelings toward the Mormon Church’s involvement in California’s Prop 8 (which prohibits gay marriage) very clear at the show’s premiere party on Wednesday night.

“The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here’s what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and people can see who’s responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards. So let’s have faith in not only the American, but Californian, constitutional process.”

When informed of the “Forrest Gump” star’s comments, Kim Farah, a spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, told Tarts, “Expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American as it gets.”

Bill McKeever, a rep for the Mormonism Research Ministry, added, “Personally, I find it un-American to tell people that they shouldn’t vote their conscience. Hanks said he doesn’t ‘like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper.’ Considering that just about every law discriminates in some form or another, makes this comment ridiculous. Hanks’ comment shows that he very much believes in discriminating against people with whom he disagrees. I may not agree with Mormon theology, but I certainly defend their right to express their opinion.”

Then, in March of 2010, Hanks made some decidedly anti-American remarks that got him in hot water with our WWII veterans and patriotic Americans everywhere:

Per cbsnews.com:

In an interview with Time magazine, Hanks, who starred in the World War II drama “Saving Private Ryan” and produced both “Band of Brothers” and the current HBO series “The Pacific” with Stephen Spielberg, compared the Japanese conflict to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods,” he told the magazine. “They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

Hanks brought up the comparison again while promoting “The Pacific” during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“‘The Pacific’ is coming out now, where it represents a war that was of racism and terror. And where it seemed as though the only way to complete one of these battles on one of these small specks of rock in the middle of nowhere was to – I’m sorry – kill them all. And, um, does that sound familiar to what we might be going through today? So it’s– is there anything new under the sun? It seems as if history keeps repeating itself.”

Well, Tom Hanks got one thing right.  History is repeating itself.  A Revolution is brewing…a Conservative one.

10 thoughts on “4th of July Fireworks and Box Office Bombs

  1. yoda's avatar yoda

    So true KJ: Secondly, why should hard-working Americans support a bunch of Hollywood Liberal Elitists who think we’re all ignorant?

    Like

  2. lovingmyUSA's avatar lovingmyUSA

    If we truly lived in a free and just society, where we could open out mouths without repercussions. then conservative actors would not be afraid to voice their opinions, as liberals are wont to do….The actors who jeer our beliefs and our candidates will never get a penny from me…

    Like

  3. Finley's avatar Finley

    We saw the movie this weekend. I thought it was plain stupid. A guy loses his job, house, and goes to college where he winds up working as a fry cook living in a small apartment, hanging out with a divorced, depressed, drunk college prof. and a bunch of weird scooter bike gang gypsies.

    And He Thinks His Life IS Great!

    The NEW American Dream! LESS is MORE

    Like

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