Atlas Shrugged makes 1.7 million for weekend

[RamboLiberal]

Did conservatives make “Atlas Shrugged – Part 1,” a low-budget adaptation of Ayn Rand’s famous 1957 novel, a box office hit? While the film’s opening weekend sales didn’t reach blockbuster levels, earning $1.7 million from about 300 theaters, the film’s backers are enthusiastic about the results.

“We’re at the upper edge of our expectations,” said “Shrugged” producer Harmon Kaslow. “And we’re a way above what the industry expected us to do.”

Independently produced and distributed, “Atlas Shrugged” had a fairly solid per-theater average of $5,590, in line with the weekend’s other indie success, “The Conspirator,” a historical drama about the trial of Abraham Lincoln’s assassins, which earned a similar $5,550 per-venue average across 700 theaters.

According to Kaslow, the film over-performed in some markets – including Atlanta, New York, Nashville, and Portland – generating as much as $12,000 to $25,000 per theater. The film did not do as well in some locales, such as Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/17/atlas-shrugged-earns-1-7-million-at-weekend-box-office/

My bet it that's about it for the movie. Most of the tea partiers and Glenn Beck fans have seen it first weekend.

[NYC Liberal]

1. But what about next weekend?

Like you said...I think everyone who's gonna see it saw it.

[Zookeeper]

6. Exactly what I was thinking. n/t

[railsback]

2. I'll wager

there was a bunch of bulk buying of tickets going on with a lot of empty theater seats.

[Magron]

3. I'll catch it on my netflix streaming. Despite the turgid writing I kinda liked it as SciFi

[lob1]

4. Charlie Sheen made more than that per episode.

Atlas shrugged and died.

[provis99]

5. Hey Randbots,

[Journeyman]

7. Doesn't seem enough to make the nut *and* capitalize Part 2. . .

Ultimately, it seems the Atlas producers will have to simply shrug and move on . . .

[RamboLiberal]

15. Or part deux goes straight to DVD/On Demand

[dkf]

8. How many duers will see it now just out of curiosity...

Thanks to all these threads.

[Javaman]

10. I value my time. I choose not to piss away 2 hours of my life that I could

otherwise be doing something far more productive, like picking belly button lint, than watching self righteous drivel.

However, I do love reading about right wing morons trying like hell to claim this movie was "good" when they know it was nothing but fail.

[RamboLiberal]

16. +1 - though I admit I've been tempted to read the book

Just to try to understand why RW'ers worship her.

[Javaman]

17. Remove your brain before you read it...

only then will it make sense. LOL

[joshcryer]

19. When it is available online I'll see it...

[Javaman]

9. Atlas shrugged, lost his balance and fell over. nt

[marmar]

11. Reality will catch up next weekend......There was a big push by Teabaggers to support the movie.

But even those people probably can't sit through that film, from all accounts a real piece of crap, twice.

[Modern_Matthew]

12. Not enough Bible and guns in it to bring in the conservative money. nt

[cali]

13. let's face it. there's an audience for this crap

and no, I don't think it'll fade by next weekend. the far right will keep going. and yes, there are enough of them to make this a minor hit.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. A hit? Hardly. Let's look at Fahrenheit 9-11. Cost less than half

the Atlas budget.

On its opening weekend the it made box-office revenue of $23.9 million in the U.S. and Canada, making it the weekend's top-grossing film, despite having been screened in only 868 theaters (many of the weekend's other top movies played on over 2,500 screens).
That is a hit. Cost about 6, make about 24 first weekend. Atlas was not number one, it was number 14 out of 17 films in new release on more than a handful of screens, cost about 15 million. Made under 2 fist weekend. Will make way less next weekend.

[joshcryer]

18. They'll make the DVDs.

They'll sell like hotcakes.