'2016: Obama's America' Succeeds at Box Office; Reports of Missing Listings
Amid reports that some newspapers had been withholding theater locations and times for the movie "2016 – Obama's America," the documentary-style look at Barack Obama's life as it pertains to his worldview is bringing in high box office numbers. The number of theaters in the U.S. showing the movie jumps from 160 to 700 this coming weekend.
"If you live in Los Angeles, you'll have to drive to the suburbs if you want to see '2016 – Obama's America.' And if you search the movie showtimes database on the L.A. Times website you won't even find it listed. (Just a glitch in the system, one supposes.)," wrote National Review Online and Pajamas Media contributor "Jack Dunphy" on Friday.
The film's marketing company reported that someone in the Orange County area of Southern California complained in an email that they "saw nothing on '2016' in the papers despite the fact it was playing at a dozen locations.
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According to the email, the Orange County Register's Sunday edition listed this correction: "Due to a wire service error, the film 2016 Obama's America was omitted from this weekend's movie listings for 8 theatres (all over OC and Long Beach)."
The film, which is based on two of conservative author Dinesh D'Souza's books, also projects what the world might look like should Obama be re-elected for a second term. Despite the thought from some observers that the film is only appealing to the conservative niche of the movie viewing public, the revenue reported from theaters may indicate otherwise.
The movie came in at 13th at the box office over the weekend (just behind "Ted" and "Ice Age"), representing a bump of 293 percent from the previous week. The film's per-screen average for Friday through Sunday soared to $7,391, the fifth highest average of any film over the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.
Now that the film has been out for a few weeks in limited release, more reviews of the movie are trickling out.
Politics writer Scott Paulson wrote: "I'm glad I saw the hyped-film because it was more informative than I had thought it would be and included less propaganda than I had predicted. If anything, it was nearly too informative as there was an enormous amount of information condensed into the nearly one-hour-and-a-half documentary. Fact after fact is put forth which shows that President Obama definitely has many skeletons in the closet that have not been released prior to the nation's trust in him with the Oval Office."
Paulson added: "To watch this movie and realize – or simply be reminded of – all that is unknown about President Obama is of concern. Much of the information has been ignored by the American media totally. When appropriately reminded as to what is still unknown about Obama to date, one has to ask: How can any logical-thinking person give a damn about Romney's taxes while not asking any questions regarding our current president's past?"
Stephen Farber is not as sympathetic to the film or its producers. He wrote in the Hollywood Reporter: "The film really goes off the rails in the last half hour, when it veers from biographical data to speculation on how Barack Obama Sr.'s anti-colonialist sentiments turned his son into a radical who aims to dismantle America's traditional values."
Farber continued later in the article: "D'Souza also points out that Obama took a class at Columbia taught by Edward Said, the renowned pro-Palestinian scholar. Do any of these marginal associations prove that Obama aims to introduce socialism to America and undermine the state of Israel?"
Other reviews of the movie point to a strong intellectual case made by its filmmakers that asks viewers to consider whether Obama's dream for America is in line with the majority of U.S. citizens.
The film's website, 2016themovie.com has a list with links to the latest reviews on the movie.
