Posted on 12/09/2006 3:38:57 AM PST by Mel Gibson
Call it a Hollywood shocker: Mel's Apocalypto will have a bigger weekend opening than his Braveheart. Despite scandal, an R-rating, subtitles because of an ancient dialect, no stars, and direct competition from movieland AAA-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, Gibson's Mayan epic won Friday's matinees and evenings, I'm told. At first, box office gurus were warning me that the weekend victor among three very competitive films all opening against each other would be too close to call. cameron_jude.jpgBut now I've learned it looks certain that Apocalypto will win the weekend -- bearing out my reporting back on December 1st when I was told that early tracking showed Mel's movie (playing in 2,465 theaters) would edge ahead. Tonight, I'm told Mel's movie took in nearly $6 million Friday for what's expected to be at least a $15 mil, and possibly $16 mil, weekend total -- exceeding Disney's hopes for the box office gross. That easily beats Mel's Braveheart, which made $9.9 mil for Fri-Sat-Sun when it opened in 2,037 theaters during Memorial Weekend back in 1995 ($12.9 mil for the four-day holiday) and went on to make $75.6 mil in the U.S. and $210.4 mil worldwide, helped by winning the Best Picture Oscar. Based on today's matinees, the No. 2 spot went to Sony's The Holiday (in 2,610 playdates), a date movie from director-writer Nancy Meyer, known for capturing that man-woman zeitgeist. The studio's hard work to deftly market this PG-13 debut (also starring Kate Winslet, Jack Black and Jude Law) obviously paid off because the movie earned $4.5 mil Friday despite all the rivalry. In 3rd place was Warner Bros' Blood Diamond (in 1,910 theaters), an African-set action-adventure pic. Important to note that this film is playing in 500-to-700 less theaters than the other two films...
(Excerpt) Read more at deadlinehollywooddaily.com ...
I guess the violence angle will be the new talking point after "Who wants to see a movie about a bunch of Mayans" didn't work.
Of course one offended by violence can always go and watch the old Yul Brynner/ George Chakiris movie KINGS OF THE SUN.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057225/
To my knowledge -- only his Psychiatrist.
Don't get me wrong, I love his movies. From Reservoir Dogs to Kill Bill I & II. Heck I must have seen both Kill Bill's 20 times each. And Pulp Fiction a 'gazillion' times.
IMO the guy is a near genius, but I don't think his elevator goes all the way up. ;-)
Strange as it may seem, there are people who simply don't think that the glorification of violence, particularly human sacrifice, is particularly healthy.
The first amendment allows Mel Gibson to produce whatever type of movie he desires. It also allows me to point out how reprehensible I think "Apocolypto" is.
The prisons are full of people that think violence is just a normal part of life.
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While I agree with you, my point was that Mel is under attack at all times, though some of it was admittedly self inflicted, I have never seen Tarentino under such attacks even though the choice of genres are comparable, but one is given a pass and the other is not.
The difference? Mel is a Christian.
Those of us who call ourselves Christians should not fall for this double standard.
Or Sam Peckinpah? I think not.
Were realy dating ourselves ;)
Only those who know him.
ReaLLy that is.
I loved the scene in South Park where he puts on the Braveheart makeup and chases Stan and Kyle while wearing jockey shorts, carrying his Braveheart sword and shouting like Daffy Duck. He may be nuts, but he makes a good movie.
With all those bad reviews, it MUST be good.
A few excerpts from a Time Magazine early article...
Gibson and his rookie cowriter on Apocalypto, Farhad Safinia, were captivated by the ancient Maya, one of the hemisphere's first great civilizations, which reached its zenith about A.D. 600 in southern Mexico and northern Guatemala. The two began poring over Maya myths of creation and destruction, including the Popol Vuh, and research suggesting that ecological abuse and war-mongering were major contributors to the Maya's sudden collapse, some 500 years before Europeans arrived in the Americas.
Those apocalyptic strains haunt Apocalypto, which takes place in an opulent but decaying Maya kingdom, whose leaders insist that if the gods are not appeased by more temples and human sacrifices, the crops will die. But the writers hope that the larger themes of decline will be a wake-up call. "The parallels between the environmental imbalance and corruption of values that doomed the Maya and what's happening to our own civilization are eerie," says Safinia.
...
Gibson, who insists ideology matters less to him than stories of "penitential hardship" like his Oscar-winning Braveheart, puts it more bluntly: "The fearmongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."
Thank you for your sensible review of the film.
I do not understand how people that have not seen the film can condemn it.
It is like the people who say they hate Rush but have never listened to his show.
The first amendment allows Mel Gibson to produce whatever type of movie he desires. It also allows me to point out how reprehensible I think "Apocolypto" is.
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You are absolutely correct. The same amendment permits me to suggest that it is very challenging to find a movie review credible when it is made by one who has only read other reviews.
He's not just a Christian, he is a Roman Catholic which also makes him a target from a few bigots.
How many times have us Freepers been called flakes or nuts in the media? Maybe you all should drop the psycho-analysis babble since none of you know him personally.
I had a friend who refused to take her then 12-year old to see Patriot becauee of the violence. That may or may not have been a good decision, but one can hardly study the story of the American Revolution without understanding the sacrifices made through violence, blood, gore and death. Same with Passion of the Christ and Braveheart. Bloody movies all.
The history of mankind is replete with violence, blood and gore. So we're supposed to make movies only about Mary Poppins? Mel Gibson is NOT Walt Disney.
His likely personal nuttiness should be segregated from his artistic product. So far, his sins seem to be related to an innate anti-semitism. That is not ok according to the secular Jews who rule Hollywood (or most of us, for that matter). That would be fine, except that other, 'acceptable' Hollywood moguls are outright perverts, whose rtistic output is ok by Tinsel Town.
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