How Clooney Could Crush His Film’s Box Office Hopes
George Clooney is the perfect male movie star on paper.
He’s handsome, charming and has an Oscar on his mantle. He can write and direct, and routinely makes women swoon via his red carpet ensembles. And, at 56, he certainly doesn’t look his age.
He still can’t open a movie.
His 2015 dud “Tomorrowland” reminded us of that. So did “Leatherheads,” “Money Monster” and “The Monuments Men.” All underperformed or became outright flops.
He’s hardly alone, though. Fellow A-listers like Tom Hanks (“A Hologram for the King,” “Inferno”) and Will Smith (“Collateral Beauty”) also struggle to fill seats in our franchise-obsessed age.
Clooney might be inadvertently sinking his next film project in a way neither Hanks nor Smith would likely do.
How?
Clooney directs “Suburbicon,” a dark comedy written by the Coen brothers. Matt Damon and Julianne Moore star in a tale revealing the underbelly of ‘50s era America. The Oct. 27 release is Oscar Bait Theater given all the names involved.
Critics may adore “Suburbicon.” And a good number of movie patrons may take a pass on it. Clooney is giving them two strong reasons to do just that.
Clooney recently made headlines when he wrote a $1 million check, via the Clooney Foundation, to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“There are no two sides to bigotry and hate,” Clooney said in a statement, ignoring the violence flowing from far-left protesters in recent weeks.
RELATED: Does George Clooney Have a Diversity Problem?
The SPLC allegedly fights hate groups. Yet the organization has labeled some Christian organizations as “hate” groups while ignoring the toxic Antifa brigade. It also calls an outfit attacking radical Islamic terrorism “haters,” too.
Do you think Christians will take kindly to Clooney’s generous donation? Might they see his name on the marquee and pick another film knowing how the SPLC flexes its might?
Muslim Reformer Maajid Nawaz Joins Christian Ministries in Suing the SPLC for ‘Hate’ Defamation https://t.co/AfKMcQ8cWM
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) August 29, 2017
That’s hardly the actor’s only potential problem. More recently, Clooney attacked President Donald Trump and, indirectly, modern America.
“It becomes increasingly clear how in over his head and incapable this man is of being president of the United States,” said Clooney. “The good news is that our other institutions — meaning press, finally, and judges and senators — have proven that the country works. There is a check and balance.”
Trump voters watch movies, too. They have plenty of options beyond a new George Clooney film.
Clooney also told the AP his new film speaks directly to the Age of Trump. He suggested “Suburbicon’s” dark themes – including fearing the “other” and outright racism – connect with 21st century America.
Who wants to get lectured about their racism at the cineplex?
We’ve already seen box office figures plummet since President Trump took the oath of office.
By the time Labor Day weekend wraps, summer box-office revenue in North America will end up being down nearly 16 percent over last year, the steepest decline in modern times and eclipsing the 14.6 percent dip in 2014. It will also be the first time since 2006 that summer didn’t clear $4 billion.
That collapse coincides with some awful summer releases (“Baywatch,” “Transformers: The Last Knight”), a crush of great streaming options and a public battered by politically aggressive stars insulting their choices.
(Amy Schumer called Trump voters KKK members before it became chic.)
Cause and effect? Hard to pinpoint. Difficult to deny. Maybe Clooney doesn’t care about the box office tally for “Suburbicon,” though.
“The main idea of the film was to pick some fights and I always like picking fights.”
Consumers can always fight back. They may have started already.
They abandoned the project midway through writing the script, because they realized that the basic idea was too weak. That should tell you all you need to know about this movie.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c013cac7491f4e68cabdb12cd346c13720b713e4416ba49f3055de341a096ba1.jpg
Have as much interest in G Clooney as in trying again to watch Little Miss Sunshine. Walked out then, Precious too, no need for Hollywood story telling. Saw “dashing” Clooney referenced recently. Word-up, technically, you have to be over 5’2″ to be considered dashing.
BOYCOTT
Two or three years ago i stopped separating the art from the artist.
Artists who badmouth my political beliefs will not see my money.
As much as I like the Coen Brothers will not see this new movie since it is directed by Clooney.
I may go see it. The Coen brothers have used Clooney a few times, always casting him as something of a dimwit, slow on the uptake kind of character.
Just what I want to spend $10+ on… A Death March to/through the “dark underbelly” of the ’50’s. I will forgo the experience a bunch of urban-socialist-atheist-elitists(in their own mind) dreamed up to fight their “White-Privilege”. Let them eat their rotting cake in Hell..
haven’t set foot in a theater in over 31 years, won’t watch clooney movies since he opened his mouth against the NRA many years ago
he like ALL of his ilk are cowards , thieves, and abusers with minimal human decency
when he and all left wing hate mongers stfu and give ALL of their money to the causes they believe in, open ALL of their properties to illegal aliens and criminals, then I might care
I really can’t stand Clooney as a person or an actor, but I must admit, he has some talent as a filmmaker. Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, which he directed, was a genuinely entertaining and well-made dark comedy. He even had a supporting role in it and was pretty good, avoiding his usual head-bobbing actor tics. If he could just get past his own politics and outsized ego, he could actually tell some good stories as a director.
That said, I am beyond sick of movies bashing the suburbs. They’re so bitter, nasty and out-of-touch with reality, it’s like they were made by people from another planet.