LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood may have run out of summer hits, but an anti-Obama documentary is helping to fill the gap.
Holdover movies easily topped the weekend box office again, led by Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables 2 at No. 1 for the second-straight weekend with $13.5 million.
The weekend’s new wide releases were overshadowed by 2016: Obama’s America, which expanded from limited to nationwide release and took in $6.2 million to finish at No. 8.
The documentary is a conservative critique of what the country would look like four years from now if President Barack Obama is re-elected.
Released by Rocky Mountain Pictures, Obama’s America nearly matched the $6.3 million debut of the No. 7 movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s action tale Premium Rush, a Sony release that played in more than twice as many theaters as the Obama documentary.
The weekend’s other new wide releases opened weakly. Dax Shepard and Kristen Bells road-chase comedy Hit & Run, released by Open Road Films, debuted at No. 10 with $4.7 million, and the Warner Bros. fright flick The Apparition opened at No. 12 with $3 million.
The weak openings are typical of late August, a dumping ground for movies without much audience appeal as the summer blockbuster season winds down and young viewers switch to back-to-school mode.
But with less competition from Hollywood releases, it also opens the door for surprise successes such as Obama’s America.
Obama’s America is based on the book The Roots of Obama’s Rage, written by Dinesh D’Souza, who co-directed the movie with John Sullivan.
*Pictured above is Dinesh D'Souza
No Comment