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UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
It’s a heated contest between conservatives vs liberals in the political documentary genre, too. 2016 Obama’s America grossed $26.2M by end of today (give or take some bucks) and passed 4 of Michael Moore’s five political documentaries to become the #2 all-time biggest. Only Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, his highly critical 
examination of the first term of President George W Bush, retains the #1 position with $119.1M. It’s extremely unlikely that 2016 Obama’s America will make even half that. But it now has made more money (not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices) than Moore’s Sicko (2007 – $24.5M), Oscar-winner Bowling For Columbine (2002 – $21.5M), and Capitalism: A Love Story (2009 – $14.3M). The right-wing doc 2016 Obama’s America is produced by Gerald R. Molen who in fact credits “learning some lessons” from Moore. “When he released Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004 ahead of the election, it sparked intense debate.” 2016 Obama’s America also has passed the box office for Al Gore’s and Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth (2006 – $24.1M) and is the #1 biggest-grossing conservative political docu ever (besting Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed’s $7.7M).
The Rocky Mountain Pictures film benefitted from the runup to the Republican National Convention. Now the anti-Obama film is hot in 2012′s battleground states where GOP candidate Mitt Romney and President Obama are campaigning the heaviest: Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona. (California and New York and Texas also are listed in the Top 10 states contributing the most gross dollars to the documentary’s box office.)
Based on conservative author Dinesh D’Souza’s 2010 best-selling book The Roots Of Obama’s Rage, it initially opened in only one theater in Houston on July 13th, then expanded to 1,000+ theaters and now 2,000+ locations. by Friday. 2016 Obama’s America is co-directed by D’Souza and John Sullivan and produced by Academy Award winner Gerald R. Molen (co-producer of Schindler’s List). 2016 Obama’s America detractors decry it as a slick infomercial heavy with conspiracy theories. But D’Souza says he made the film to motivate moviegoers to question what an Obama second term would look like.
Its success was aided by savvy marketing: exhibitors were reporting busloads arriving at theaters around the country in pre-organized trips. It also employed much of the same selling techniques used to garner attention and support for faith-based films, understandable since the audience is overlapping. Its campaign included advertising nationally on talk radio and cable news channels including Fox News Channel, A&E, History and MSNBC.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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$26 million gross / $10 per ticket = approx 2.6 million people have seen the movie
Current US Population: 311.5 million.
Less than 1% of the US population has seen this movie.
Yes, but all of us who have seen it are going to vote. How many votes does it take to change the outcome of an election?
You can multiply that by all the FB pages and Twitter feeds and friend and family discussions pre-election.
There are at least a dozen more people that are seeing the movie because of my post about it on my own FB page yesterday. I am betting I will be personally responsible for 100 more people seeing it, and there are lots like me out there. This is a worthwhile movie to see.
This documentary will be as successful in ousting the incumbent as Fahrenheit 9/11 was.
As far as the success of conservative movies, you really can’t gloat too loudly until there’s some consistency. According to this article, only two conservative docs in history have made over $10m. Combine that with the massive failures of ‘The Undefeated’, ‘Atlas Shrugged’, and ‘An American Carol’ and conservative pundits find themselves making more excuses than touting successes.
This “documentary” makes a HUGE assumption: that somehow Obama adopted the political beliefs of his father, who left him at age 2 and only saw him one more time at age 10.
Wouldn’t you instead HATE or simply dismiss everything your dad stood for if he abandoned you at such a young age?
Except that Stanley Ann Dunham, Barack Jr.’s mother, defended the absent father, like women whose husbands were killed in WWII praised their husbands to their children. (You didn’t see the movie, did you?)
I might hate it…
But you’ve not read Obama’s book, nor watched this movie. Obama does not hate nor dismiss his father.
Can’t wait to see this film win an Academy Award , and to see the Liberal Hollywood elite crying , whining , and complaining about this …
Freedom of speech is only for Liberals of course , not for anyone else… just ask them
.
The Liberals in Hollywood would NEVER even consider nominating this film, let alone let it WIN an Academy Award. Not in our lifetimes.
So would I, but, unfortunately, the Academy IS the liberal Hollywood elite. Lotsa luck.
The movie (I’ve seen it) is not conspiracy-based at all, and D’Souza paints almost a sympathetic view of the president – certainly trying to understand what motivates him. You don’t have to agree with his conclusions, but you cannot say with fairness that he is doing anything other than quoting the president and pointing out facts about his background and actions which all seem to dovetail in a logical way. Food for thought is all I got, no one trying to tell me what to think.
You are wrong. He has a predetermined agenda behind making this film, and he’s said so in every interview he has given the past few weeks promoting the film. He believes Obama is a secret “socialist” bent on destroying capitalism. He has unabashedly stated this belief as fact. Agree or disagree, his agenda is clear – just listen to him tell you…
Dinesh has an agenda. So what? So do you. It is not about having and agenda, it is about how you present it, and if others can see value in it. I agree with Ken’s post. I had the same experience. The suppositions and theories are presented as that. After seeing the movie, nothing has changed about the way I am voting, but I have more compassion for Obama, who had nothing near a “normal” American upbringing, and, if one can assess by appearances, most likely had an ANTI-American one, and then surrounded himself with ANTI-American friends for most of his adult life.
You’ve got it right. You do feel sorry for Barry — he was abandoned by his father and then his mother. (I’ve seen the movie twice). Very few professional film critics went into the film with an open mind. There are no conspiracy theories advanced in the film.
You are exactly correct, kenatipo. I left this film feeling empathy for the abandonment Obama experienced from his father (and even his mother). I don’t care for him as our President, I know he has ulterior motives that are frightening, but I feel less anger towards him after seeing this film.
I saw it too, and I felt sorry for young Barry who grew up without his biological father. That’s tough and I can’t imagine not growing up with my father. However, Dinesh did, IMO, a masterful job of breaking Obama down in many many aspects and analyzing each one to get to the real Obama. His lack of a father figure growing up and his adoption of his fathers radical views, does not justify at all what he has done and plans to do to you, me, my children, and the rest of this country.
I could do a flick with my cell phone that would be bigger than 3 Michael Moore movies!
“Only” 26 million? Two thousand screens for a film with no distribution deal up front, that opened on ONE screen? A film that has beaten out “Roger and Me” by a factor of 4? Already the sixth biggest documentary ever, and poised to get to 5?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
It’s a safe bet it’ll make it to 4th biggest documentary (behind Fahrenheit, Penguins and Bieber), even in adjusted dollars. It only needs less than $10 million more to do that, and it made $10 million in the last 8 days, while its percentage drops remain quite low.
“A film that has beaten out “Roger and Me” by a factor of 4″
Roger and Me was released in 1989 when tickets were about half of what they cost today so that’s a misleading measurement at best. You seem to be trying to imply that 4 times as many people saw this, which is not the case. It is more like 2 times when counting ticket price inflation (check out http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm for more info on this).
Comparing box office statistics across two different time periods without adjusting for inflation is useless. By this argument, 2016 out grossed Gone with the Wind in it’s initial run, which I’m sure some of you will drool at, but it ain’t the truth.
As Nikki says, “Don’t get your fact’s wrong.” You’re free to hate Obama but if you want to use stats like that against him, do your homework at least.
This is a business site about Hollywood, not Fox News for crying out loud.
Okay, so it beat “Roger and Me” by a factor of two.
And by the way, I am fed up with being called a “hater” by you and your ilk. As far as I’m concerned his policies are dragging us off a cliff, so I vehemently oppose his administration. That’s not hate. Hate is Auschwitz, hate is 9/11, hate is Wallace in the doors of the University of Alabama. Hate is wanting him dead. I don’t want him dead, I just don’t want him running my country any more.
Don’t let the anti-Obama people fool you. This is a PRO Obama movie. They just don’t want Obama’s fans rallying. If you love Obama, go and see this movie and you’ll understand why he’s great.
There’s finally an inside view of a Democratic leader, and Republicans are lambasted by Democrats — as if the very existence of this film is confirmation that a group of boogie man Republican monsters conspired to create it. Let’s be clear – all politicians are fair play these days. Whether one is viewed as a success (i.e. the newly-remediated Clinton) or as a dismal failure (Carter, Bush I, or Bush II), it goes with the territory. It’s also why this is a great country. This sort of thing, whether one views it as a piece of good fiction or as set of data that can be used to evaluate a candidate, it serves the purpose of leveling the playing field. In a free and open society, the people have a right to explore whatever information is available about leaders or potential leaders. Democrats, by virtue of the left-leaning media, have always had the upper hand in these matters. Thus it is a good and righteous thing, IMO, to have a movie like 2016 available now.
Dinesh is nothing like Obama…the elite Indian Experience….much like the Cuban experience is not anything like the black experience in America.
Ignorance is no excuse for endemic racism or stupidity.
And you clearly know nothing about Dinesh and where he came from in Mumbai. He is not and was not part of the “elite Indian Experience.”
You know nothing of Obama to be able to say that with a straight face.
Obama had an extremely “elite” experience. Went to an expensive private high school in Hawaii (a friend was his classmate!) Got a free ride through exclusive Ivy League schools. Special favors all of his life. Never had to work a regular job, EVER.
His experience is nothing like the “black experience in America”.
So I agree with you: ignorance is no excuse for endemic racism or stupidity.
Yes, but Obama did not grow up with the black experience in America. See the film and you’ll understand.
Obama vowed to ”Fundamentally transform the United States of America”.This documentary puts in film exactly what he meant by that.
And how did Maher get his clock cleaned? Maher exposed D’souza for the hack he is. D’Souza said that Obama, a man who he has never met but claims to know, is anti-colonialist and that anti-colonialist is the same as being anti-capitalist. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but Americans ARE anti-colonialists. If we weren’t, we would still be singing “God Save The Queen” and have 4′o clock tea time.
Anyways, “Dreams of My Father” has been out for some time. It didn’t cause any stir before. D’Souza takes quotes out of context and puts his own masala into it to spice it up and make it into a hit-piece.
And people say that “Fahrenheit 9/11″ was a propaganda piece. Yes, it was. But it was mostly a critique of the war in iraq, asking the most important question of that war: why?
You missed the point. Obama believes the US is the colonizer and YOU are an evil one-percenter.
If you disagree, please explain just one example that has bugged me for a long time: why did Obama tear down northern Gulf oil drilling while at the same time pouring billions into Latin American nations to drill in the same ocean?
As an environmentalist that makes no sense. It seemed crazy to me, until this movie. Now it makes sense: Obama wants to cut the US down to size while building others up.
And this is explained not in “out of context” quotes, but extensive interviews with the people who have known Obama best for a very long time.
Just because Obama wants to keep it hidden doesn’t make it untrue, nor offensive.
It’s actually a very caring movie, as many others have expressed.
Like Obama or not, go see the movie. You will better understand the man and what drives him. Feel free to ignore the conclusions drawn by D’Souza… draw your own conclusions! But at least do so based on the facts… facts hidden from us all by a very complicit main stream media.
All Dinesh is trying to do in the movie is explain why Obama is making decisions that don’t seem to be in the best interests of the USA. The title of the book is “Dreams FROM My Father” and that is significant. The father was anti-colonialist, the mother was anti-capitalist, and young Barry’s mentor for years before he went off to college was Frank Marshall Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party of the USA and on the FBI’s list of security risks. “Frank” is mentioned in Barack’s book 22 times. I’ve seen the movie twice. I think D’Souza is on to something. (Please go see the movie with an open mind).
“Busloads” of people being driven to theaters? This is like some of those political books that appear on the Best Sellers list, but with a special symbol indicating that bulk sales are artificially boosting their sales figures. (They’re often used as sign-up giveaways, or as thank-yous for donations.)
Wow, partisan subsidies to keep a product alive that otherwise wouldn’t thrive on its own in the unfettered free market… dare we call it socialism?
It’s also pretty funny to see conservatives looking to box office totals for validation, when they’re so deeply opposed to Hollywood’s poisonous influence on our nation. But I guess Clint Eastwood’s adoring RNC reception tells us all we need to know about that bedrock principle, too.
Busloads? Seems like a lot of effort for not much payback. And who is getting on those buses? I think you are projecting the “rent a mob” efforts for Democratic events onto others.
I didn’t see any buses at my local theater. I didn’t see a big line for tickets, either, but people were paying to see it. And I didn’t see any pickets calling it hateful. Considering I live in a city with a clear majority of people of color, and the people at the theater reflected that majority, that was interesting in and of itself.
just prooves there are a few NORMAL people in hollywood as well….A FEW…
Some of you are afraid that this movie is “propaganda,” and because of that you won’t see it. Well, I can respect that perspective since it’s a personal decision. Still, I believe it’s my duty as an informed citizen to watch such documentaries and take them into consideration if I intend on making any pertinent comments. My convictions are solidly well-reasoned and I do not fear that a documentary will somehow brainwash me into supporting a far-fetched conspiracy theory. That being said, I intend on watching the movie, evaluating the arguments, and then doing independent research to verify facts and determine whether quotes were taken out of context. I feel this is an effective way to understand political media. If I find the political message to be well-reasoned and sound, I will then categorize such information and use it if I find it useful. From what I’ve heard, the movie is hard to refute being that the bulk of the message is actually from Obama himself IN context.
“Anti” Obama movie? I would say it isn’t anti Obama but it does go where the main stream media has refused to go for 5 years now and that is into Obama’s past!
Is it anti to tell people about your past? Is it anti to tell people about all your mentors and their ideologies that they taught and passed on to Obama?
I saw 2016 last week and found it extremely enlightening considering it is about the man who wants to “transform” America using a Socialist anti Capitalist template.
I’ve seen two of Moore’s supposed documentaries and you poke holes in virtually every “fact” he expouses…you cannot do that with 2016 Obama’s America….if you are honest with yourself!
personally I didn’t find 2016 to be all that hard hitting. My opinion of Obama didn;t really go up or go down. Just have greater understanding of why he comes from where he comes from.
Ferhenheit 911 came out in the summer of 2004 and done so, as Michael Moore said, to affect the 2004 election.
As I’ve posted before, anyone who write or says that there are “conspiracies” or “conspiracy theories” in this movie need to look up the definition of conspiracy.
Here I will do it for you. Capital letters are my own: “A secret plan by a GROUP to do something unlawful or harmful” The way I see it, there is no evidence in the movie that anyone else may SHARE Obama’s intent. Obama himself may even be acting subconsciously. The BIGGEST point made in the movie, is that about Obama’s MOTIVATIONS for his choices. It is not a CONSPIRACY movie, but is about the motivations for a SINGLE PERSON’s CHOICES. For example, although Pelosi has supported Obama for HER OWN REASONS, I’d bet she wouldn’t agree in principle with Obama’s motivations for HIS choices. That is, if Dinesh is right, and personally, I feel he has made a plausible argument for Obama’s motivations.
I saw 2016 this past weekend, and was left in awe. As someone who does research for a living and is always searching for the information from 1st hand accounts and sources, this movie is nothing but 1st hand accounts and sources. D’souza did a wonderful job in the first 10-15 minutes explaining who he is and what his background is, so it is clear up front that there are no racial biases, etc. What struck me most was how extensively researched this movie was and how the story was, although narrated by Dinesh, it was essentially told by people from Obama’s past (i.e. his brother living in a hut, and several of his father’s radical/hard left leaning friends still living in Kenya. This movie answered alot of unanswered questions.
Saw the film. Already knew a great deal of what it covered but learned a lot more. Anti-colonialism seems to have wreaked havoc on Kenya, and it was interesting to hear Obama’s half brother, a man that never finished high school and regrets disappointing his mother, say it would have been better if the British had stayed longer. Kenya is a disaster for the ordinary people. I have never seen such filth, garbage and poverty. They seem to be a lost people, wandering around, bound to primitive methods of hauling wood for charcoal to burn in their huts, no sanitation whatsoever. They had sanitary systems in place, but when the British left the Kenyans didn’t know how to maintain or operate them, and they collapsed. Very sad situation.
I found 2016 to be very interesting, seen from the perspective of someone coming from a very similar background as BO, yet taking a totally opposite view. Most of what was in there I already knew, but I thought it was well done and never lagged or lost focus. The end, however, I found very frightening.
if you have not seen it, make some time to do so BEFORE the election.
Haven’t seen 2016 yet, but I will eventually. It interests me far more than comic book flicks and potty-mouth teddy bears.
I think this movie should be required for every voter.
I was very impressed as to it’s honesty.
Go see it and judge for yourself!!
If any liberal out there can give me one. single. example. of ANY country that ever existed or exists now where rapid, increased growth and intrusion of the government into the lives of it’s citizens turned out to be a positive thing, I’d love to hear it. Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?…..(cue crickets chirping)
2016 is a documentary unlike Michael Moore films and Al Gore presentations which are opinion statements. 2016 is not anti anything. It relies on input from Obama himself and the people who he identifies.