The anti-Obama documentary based on Dinesh D’Souza’s book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” expanded nationwide on Friday — with early first-place showings in the domestic box office rankings, Deadline Hollywood reports.
As of late Friday afternoon, “2016: Obama's America” had grossed $700,000 from 1,090 theaters. That compared with $300,000 for the new big-budget, Sylvester Stallone action flick “The Expendables 2,” which is playing in 3,355 theaters, Deadline Hollywood reports.
The early showing puts Obama’s America on track to gross $1.2 million to $1.7 million on Friday alone, with as much as $3.7 million to $5 this weekend, according to Deadline Hollywood. Its afternoon ranking will likely be eclipsed by “Expendables” and several new releases, including “Ride Like Hell,” starring Michael Shannon.
Exhibitors reported that busloads of filmgoers arriving at theaters to see Obama’s America in pre-organized trips, Deadline Hollywood reports.
The film’s producer, Rocky Mountain Pictures, used the same marketing approach to build audiences for many of its faith-based films. Its efforts included advertising nationally over the past two weeks on talk radio and cable news channels.
Last weekend, Obama’s America grossed $1.2 million in select markets, including New York City, and had a total gross of $2.1 million from a total of 169 theaters.
The low-budget film features author D’Souza outlining facts to assist viewers in gaining an understanding of the apparent motivations behind a number of President Barack Obama’s policies.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax last week, D’Souza said that Obama’s policies are unmaking the American Dream.
“Between 2007 and the present, Americans have lost about 40 percent of our wealth. Forty percent. If that happens again, if we lose another 40 percent in the second Obama term, if there is a second Obama term, Americans will be two thirds poorer than they were when Obama came to office,” he told Newsmax. “In a way, America will stop being a first-world country.”
So far, “2016” is the second-best gross of the year for a documentary after “Bully” ($3.2 million), but that list excludes the nature documentaries “Chimpanzee” ($29 million) and “To the Arctic” ($7.6 million), according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The documentary opened last month and is already the 12th-highest-grossing political documentary of all time. It also is the No. 2 conservative documentary after “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” ($7.7 million), according to the Reporter.
The aggressive expansion of Obama's America, co-directed by D'Souza and John Sullivan, was set to coincide with next week's Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.
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