Posted on 07/17/2011 11:26:40 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So thinks Mark Whittington, a writer for Yahoo’s contributor network, in an article that more than a few people have flagged on Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail. Anecdotal data from several cinemas on The Undefeated‘s first night in a very limited national release suggests a strong opening day for the Sarah Palin documentary, even though it opened against the latest and last Harry Potter film:
Just on the face of it, it would seem to have been the biggest risk in marketing history to roll out a documentary about a politician with less than stellar poll numbers on the same night that the last Harry Potter movie was scheduled to be released.
But, by all accounts, “The Undefeated,” the Sarah Palin biop, which was placed in limited release in ten screens across the country, did surprisingly well. Jim Hoft linked reports of packed theaters from opening day. Matt Lewis has a roundup of reactions from the media in several of the cities where the film opened, all positive. The filmmakers can’t be displeased with the results of the first day, and the necessary buzz has begun to build for a wider release — which, as Whittington points out, is one big question:
First, will “The Undefeated” open to wider markers? If the audience holds up in the ten theaters where it is now playing, that is almost certain. But then the next question arises, will the film perform well beyond the red state markets where it has been initially released? Curiosity to see what the fuss is about, if nothing else, might draw a respectable audience if and when “The Undefeated” opens wide. It takes more than just a good opening day for an indie documentary to get a distributor to sink cash into a wide release. We won’t know the results of this weekend’s performance until tomorrow, which is when the metrics from theaters on sales generally get released. The per-screen average for the entire weekend will be the measure that counts.
Given Sarah Palin’s following and the targeted release this weekend, that number should be very, very good, and it’s likely that quite a few more cities will see The Undefeated open next weekend. Millions of people find Palin compelling, and one would expect them to flock to theaters to see the film. The comparison to Harry Potter might be apt in concept, if perhaps not in scale; Palin has a winning brand, and this film allows for more access to her for her supporters. Essentially, The Undefeated is a book adaptation, too, from Going Rogue, and readers of the book and those interested in Palin who haven’t yet tackled the book will want to see the film.
So the wider release is really a given at this point. The bigger question will be how long the film sustains itself at the box office. After all, Palin needs more than just the already-convinced to go see this film. For the film to have the political impact Whittington suspects, it has to draw Palin agnostics and Palin skeptics into the theater. The measure for success there won’t be first-weekend metrics, but second-, third-, and fourth-weekend metrics. We can expect Palin’s fans to rush to theaters when the film opens (especially given its limited release), but if people are still buying tickets in significant numbers four weeks later at these theaters, that will mean that the film has broken out beyond the Palin base. We’ll know the answer to that by mid-August at the latest.
Will opening weekend for The Undefeated have political implications?
Yes.
Next question?
We already know the MSM narrative. Worst movie since Zapped.
I saw it yesterday. If you are a lib with an open mind, you will enjoy the movie.
will the film perform well beyond the red state markets where it has been initially released?................................................... Yeah, especially on B’way NYC...RIIIIIIGHT.
I am sure it is enjoyable, all stories about real people are, why do you think the History Channel is so popular. I will only watch the movie if Palin becomes the nominee, I won’t watch it otherwise, because I don’t plan on voting for her in the primaries. I figure it’s just a bunch of propoganda for her. But if she gets the nominiation, I will watch it because at that point, I will be voting for who the nominee is, like them or not. I am not going to be voting for Obama, even if Palin is the nominee. If she wants to be the nominee, she is going to have to work for it. I’m not paying money to go see her propoganda flick, unless I have already decided that I am voting for her, and I’m only doing that if she is the nominee. And if she gets elected, I pray she has really good advisors, because I know she will only be the figurehead.
That can't be true. There are useless, bottom feeding, slime sucking trolls right here on FR who told me so.
That’s not the way to attract Bee’s to the honey. Those are people you are talking about, and they are United States Citizens. You must win those people over first before you win over the Independents and Reagan Democrats. I don’t know how you think Palin is going even end up with the nomination if you are talking about those who question her as if they need to be sent off to some concentration camp somewhere. That’s not going to win over anyone, as a matter of a fact, it reinforces the negative impression people have of her and her sway over people like you.
And if she gets elected, I pray she has really good advisors, because I know she will only be the figurehead.
dont cha get it? Palin will NOT BE a figurehead. She can’t be bought off...like Ragan, she has integrity. That is where her popularity comes from, that ONE factor.
Question to myself: do I want to get on a thread and argue with people who have Scarecrow disease about Sarah Palin?
Isn’t that a waste of time?
And yet ... here I am.
Bush was a good man, I still like him. I sure didn’t like him though in 2000, I was dead set against him. But once he got elected, I came to really like that guy, I still do. But I see the mistake he made, he was too focused on the war and ignored what was going on at home. You can’t do that. He made a mistake, but he’s still a good man. Life is like that, even good people mess up. I think he did the right thing going after Iraq. It was psychological war against the terrorists. I think Bush realized that his dad made a mistake by not getting rid of Saddam, and that mistake empowered Osama Bin Ladin to attack the United States. I think that was the real reason for the war. But how do you explain that to a liberal media? You can’t, so they said “weapons of mass destruction,” because it was easier then explaining things like that to a hostile, liberal media.
You evidently know nothing about Governor Palin, her fame and her reputation and her record is based on her extraordinary leadership, the opposite of your claim.
Palin earned her chops as a leader and a doer, and she is unique in that she seems to be the most hands on, advisor free leader that we have ever seen at her level.
You people have serious misconceptions about Sarah Palin. She would be the last person in the world to be a figurehead.
If you don’t like her for other reasons, okay. But that’s just ....... stupid.
You and rodeo mom have serious misconceptions about Sarah. She’d be the last person in the world to be a figurehead.
If you don’t like her policies or anything else, okay, but that is just terribly .... stupid.
I didn’t say she was going to be bought off or taking bribs, I said she better have some good advisors. I just wish we could elect someone who would actually be the real President. That would be nice. I feel like the last really good President was Ronald Reagan. We need the whole package, or you run into problems. Things get complicated when you elect people who really don’t have the real understanding. Things get really complicated really quick when a leader is saying yes to their advisors, not matter how good those advisors are. Because the truth is, you can’t really trust anyone in life. No matter how good you think someone is, when the chips are down, they will have their own back before they have yours. Even good people will let you down.
I don’t care what you call me, I’m still a United States Citizen, and I will be voting in both the primaries and the general election.
I don’t care what you call me, I’m still a United States Citizen, and I will be voting in both the primaries and the general election.
You people have serious misconceptions about Sarah Palin. She would be the last person in the world to be a figurehead.
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