By Eugene Gant
10/13/2016
The New York Times laments the failure of “Birth Of A Nation” at the box office this weekend, saying it flopped because its director Nate Parker couldn’t handle the controversy surrounding his acquittal on rape charges in 1999.
LOS ANGELES — Any lingering hope that “The Birth of a Nation” could push past a controversy surrounding its star, Nate Parker, to become a financial success and an awards contender appeared to end over the weekend, when it arrived to an estimated $7.1 million in ticket sales — flop territory, especially since the film was backed by an aggressive marketing campaign.The “toxicity” around Mr. Parker may have had nothing to do with it. Do most Americans know anything about Mr. Parker’s legal travails?“The Birth of a Nation,” which Mr. Parker also directed, wrote and produced, received some stellar reviews but lost momentum as Mr. Parker’s handling of questions on the publicity circuit about his past behavior — he was accused and acquitted of rape in 1999 — triggered a negative reaction toward him and his movie.
Over the past week, Mr. Parker generated one damaging headline after another as he appeared on “60 Minutes,” “Good Morning America” and “The Steve Harvey Show” to promote “The Birth of a Nation.” On Friday, The Hollywood Reporter summed it up in blunt terms: “Nate Parker’s Failed Media Tour: Anger, No Remorse and Oprah’s Advice Ignored.”
Fox Searchlight, having paid the highest price in its history, $17.5 million, to acquire “The Birth of a Nation,” which dramatizes the 1831 Nat Turner slave revolt, said it was too early to assess the film’s financial picture. “We thought it could be a little higher, but word of mouth is going to be positive, which will allow us to string out to a good result,” said Frank Rodriguez, Searchlight’s head of distribution.
“I’m not going to say we are disappointed,” he added.
“The Birth of a Nation,” co-starring Aja Naomi King and Armie Hammer, received an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls, Mr. Rodriguez noted. African-Americans made up roughly 60 percent of the opening-weekend audience, he said.
To what degree did the toxicity around Mr. Parker dent ticket sales? Mr. Rodriguez said that he was not sure.[ ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Struggles at the Box Office, By Brooks Barnes, October 9, 2016]
Perhaps it hadn’t occurred to the Times, but maybe in this age of Trump, whites, who buy most of the movie tickets, aren’t particularly interested in shelling out $18 a head for anti-white propaganda that features angry blacks murdering whites.
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