‘Anti-Trump’ ‘Anniversary’ Bombs, Media Blames You-Know-Who
Dystopian thriller got crushed by own studio, alleged fear of 'right-wing' response
Not all bombs are created equal.
Some, like Robert De Niro’s “The Alto Knights,” get plenty of press but still massively underperform. Others come and go without making a ripple in the pop culture waters.
And then there’s “Anniversary.”
The dystopian thriller follows a tight-knit family navigating a totalitarian takeover of the U.S. The film stars Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler, and it made an embarrassingly small amount over the weekend.
Think $260,000 in roughly 800 theaters/screens. Even by modern flop standards, that’s a low figure. So what happened?
The far-Left TheWrap.com pins the blame on, you guessed it, President Donald Trump.
First, a film recap.
The “Anniversary” clan runs into a new political movement advocating for a single party system.
- How does it work?
- Is it meant to be a conservative party stand-in?
- Why would anyone think such a system would thrive?
- What possible appeal does a one-party system have to Joe and Jane Sixpack?
SPOILER ALERT:
The film doesn’t say.
Some movie critics, who lean overwhelmingly to the Left, said the dystopian system is a stand-in for the Trump era. Yes, a leader desperate to shrink government, increase transparency and stop the Biden-era free speech restrictions is all about tyranny.
Plus, the film was shot in 2023, a year before Trump’s electoral victory against Vice President Kamala Harris.
TheWrap.com wonders if the studio behind the film, Lionsgate, buried it out of fear Team Trump might lash out against it.
Why? How? The site doesn’t say. Instead, it whips up a frenzy of distorted facts to build its alleged case.
Entertainment and media has been under constant assault by the Trump administration, with lawsuits over television interviews at ABC and CBS News, and federal investigations into DEI at Disney and Comcast.
DEI policies are racist and anti-American, and it’s about time an administration acted against them. Plus, that has nothing to do with “Anniversary.” And the lawsuits in question challenged slander against the president (ABC was busted and buckled) and an outrageous case of deceptive editing just weeks before Election Day (CBS buckled).
The article says the film received only a modest number of reviews from major outlets, another red flag. Not even TheWrap.com weighted in on the film.
Whose fault is that?
This critic saw a press release for “Anniversary” several weeks ago and asked for a screening link for review purposes. The PR company behind the film quickly obliged.
Why couldn’t that critic do the same?
One of the film’s producers played the “we’re llving in scary times” card, suggesting politically-relevant content puts a target on an artist’s back. That argument collapses when you consider the nonstop Trump bashing from late-night TV, “Saturday Night Live,” “South Park” or any number of social media accounts.
One of the film’s producers still smells a rat.
“I’ve never had a movie that we thought was really interesting that no one was aware of,” producer Nick Wechsler told TheWrap. “It’s hard to market a political film today. People are afraid of them – they don’t know how it will be received emotionally. It’s a weird time.”
Next, TheWrap.com suggests Charlie Kirk’s assassination gave Lionsgate cold feet on the film’s release. What does that murder have to do with “Anniversary?”
Nothing.
And we’re told the film’s soft rollout comes on the heels of Apple TV delaying “The Savant” indefinitely. That limited series follows an investigator (Jessica Chastain) tracking down violent white supremacists.
Again, there’s zero proof Team Trump has anything to do with that show’s delay.
The far-Left Screen Rant magnified TheWrap.com’s story, as did Yahoo! Entertainment.
The reality? “Anniversary” continues Lionsgate recent, regrettable track record of recent film flops – “Borderlands,” “The Crow,” “White Bird,” “The Killer’s Game” and “Megalopolis” rush to mind.
The film’s bland title doesn’t share any sense of the incendiary themes in question. And, sadly, original films often struggle at the cineplex.
Tell that to TheWrap.com.
With “Anniversary,” it would hardly be surprising if Lionsgate made a calculated decision to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump and right-wing attack machine.
It can’t be as bad as the Left-wing variety. Just ask Bari Weiss, the centrist new boss over at CBS News. The celebrated scribe, a target of the Left, needs a security detail worth $10K a day to keep her safe as she tries to salvage CBS News from itself.
There’s a disconnect with the directors of a movie such as this and reality. They failed to read the room. That’s no one else’s fault.
Why are people shocked that the nation overwhelmingly voted for someone who wasn’t an extreme leftist totalitarian “progressive”, a bumbling alcoholic, or a human Roomba with a crackhead son and “Dr.” wife?
All the blue states are one party states. California just did it again on November 4th.
Were ANY Biden officials forced to hide their families on secure military bases in order to protect them from ‘White Supremacist’ mobs threatening their lives? No, none. Were ANY Biden officials hounded, or even barred, from attending public restaurants? No, not a one. Ten Trump officials’ families are have moved onto military bases due to threats from the Left. Trump and his public officials are regularly hounded in public spaces. It has been in the news, didn’t you know?
The Leftists project the actions that they HAVE taken with the pretense that surely Conservatives WILL do those things. If the Left’s darlings don’t even bother to watch your on-screen fantasies, it’s because no one was paying them to do so, unlike the ‘No Kings Protests’. This movie didn’t capture the zeitgeist. It assaulted it.
‘Anniversary’ regardless of political content or aims… is a very good movie.
But it’s Diane Lane’s superb performance that really lingers.
The sad fact is that Lane’s performance will go largely unseen (at least until streaming).
Lane is THAT good and undoubtedly Awards worthy – regardless of the actual movie themes.
They made the film in 2023. Trump was supposed to be in jail by now and this movie was going to be part of the celebration: we avoided what the MAGAts had planned for us (and if that causes some blue on red violence they had it coming).
I’m shocked they had the nerve to put it out at all because it reads like a call for new assassins (and maybe that’s the Kirk connection) to once and for all end Trump’s movement.
There is NOTHING in the movie to suggest that.