Entertainment News
2005-12-20
Brokeback bullish on burbs in wider release
Film cracks Top
10, scores in Texas and elsewhere
The gay Western
romance Brokeback Mountain
The gay Western
romance Brokeback Mountain continued its
winning spree at the box office in its second weekend,
which saw the film expand past the gay enclaves of New York
City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Premiering in
theaters in St. Louis, Miami, Atlanta, and elsewhere,
the film grossed $2.4 million, making it the first
since Disney's Pocahontas to make it to the
weekend Top 10 while showing on fewer than 100 screens. The
Los Angeles Times reports that exhibitor Focus
Features was particularly gratified by Brokeback's
strong opening at the same theater in Plano, Texas,
where Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ
reported some of its highest grosses. Focus
distribution head Jack Foley told the Times
that the film's strong opening at the Cinemark Legacy in the
Dallas suburb of Plano "was a revelation about the
accessibility of this movie. This is not
gay-dependent. Attendance at those theaters indicates
the film has the attention of suburban moviegoers."
Brokeback Mountain has taken in an estimated
$3.3 million in its first 10 days of release.
In other
Brokeback news, Ang Lee's film took Best
Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (for
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, working from the
novella by Annie Proulx) at the 2005 Southeastern Film
Critics Association Awards, which were announced
Monday. The group—which includes 42 members in
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and
Virginia—also honored Philip Seymour Hoffman as Best
Actor for his portrayal of gay author Truman Capote in
Capote. Heath Ledger was the Best Actor
runner-up for Brokeback; Ledger's costar and
companion, Michelle Williams, was the runner-up for Best
Supporting Actress, behind Amy Adams for
Junebug, and Dan Futterman's Capote
screenplay was the runner-up in the Adapted category.
SEFCA's top 10 films of 2005 were Brokeback Mountain;
Good Night, and Good Luck; Capote; Crash; A
History of Violence; The Constant Gardener; Syriana;
Cinderella Man; King Kong; and Walk the
Line.
Also, the Human
Rights Campaign announced that Lee would be presented
with the HRC's Equality Award at the organization's Greater
New York gala dinner on February 11. "Ang Lee's vision
is changing hearts and minds," said HRC president Joe
Solmonese in a statement. "Ang Lee's career has been
defined by bold artistic choices, and Brokeback
Mountain is no exception. Through his moving
directorial work, Ang Lee proves the old adage 'Love is love
is love.' We are honored to be awarding Mr. Lee with
the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Award."
(Advocate.com)
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