September 3, 2013, - 3:32 pm
Got Amnesty?: Spanish Language Film Hits Top 5 Movies For Wknd; Tops Big Budget “Getaway”
Over the weekend, there was a bad omen for those of us concerned about immigration amnesty, and it comes from movie theaters across America. A little noticed barometer of pop culture should be big news about where America is headed–that America’s Hispanic population is not only growing, but dominating the landscape.
This weekend, a Spanish-language comedy movie, “Instructions Not Included [No se Aceptan Devoluciones],” surprised Hollywood by debuting in the top five movies, beating out the much-hyped, big-budget “Getaway.” (The Wall Street Journal puts the movie in fifth place for the extended holiday weekend, but Box Office Mojo puts it in fourth place. See the graphic below.) Moreover, the movie is tops in box office take, making $22,594 per screen versus $5,777 for the number one movie, “One Direction: This Is Us.”
Click on Image to See the Whole Thing . . .
The movie’s success signals the growing influence of Hispanic America over, well . . . everything. And it’s not a good omen for the way we are headed on the immigration amnesty issue, whether or not you believe the conventional wisdom that most Hispanic U.S. citizens support amnesty (I do not and never have, La Raza et al notwithstanding).
Foreign language films are almost never in the top five. And the movie’s success in edging out “Getaway” is even more stark, when you consider that the Spanish movie was shown on only 347 screens versus 2,130 screens for “Getaway.” And compare “Instructions'” $22,594 per screen take versus “Getaway’s” $2,108 per screen. Even the over-hyped, fictional disgrace, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” which added 220 screens this week for a total of 3,300 screens, only averaged $4,469 per screen or about a fifth of what the Spanish comedy took in. Yes, “Getaway” is a crappy movie (read my review). But that’s not the point, since a summary of the plot of “Instructions” (as found on IMDB) sounds like it could have been made by the Hispanic Tyler Perry:
A man who has made a new life for himself and the daughter left on his doorstep 6 years ago finds his family threatened when the birth mother resurfaces.
“Instructions” took in $10 million and is a harbinger of what’s to come. Hollywood has noticed, and several weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a cover story on Hollywood’s use of Hispanic characters and themes, such as in “Fast & Furious 6” to win Hispanic movie dollars and, thus, the box office race.
But it’s not just Hollywood noticing and catering to the perceived desires of Hispanics. It’s other sectors of pop culture, presenting us with the “virtues” of illegal aliens (see my coverage of illegal alien chick lit a/k/a “Fifty Shades of Amnesty”) and politicians who keep pimping us on immigration amnesty and may succeed in passing the amnesty bill this fall.
I’m not anti-Hispanic. I’m pro-American-culture (and preserving it), pro-English-language (and using it), anti-amnesty, and anti- the notion that all American Hispanics want amnesty for 20 million illegal aliens in our midst. I’ve heard from many Hispanics who do not want that.
Sadly, the perception that they do want it and the many signs that they will dominate America demographically in a few generations are leading Washington–Democrats AND Republicans–down the amnesty path to America’s suicide.
And, then, most of the movies dominating the box office will be in Spanish. Got Amnesty?
More:
“The Getaway,” a Warner Bros. thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, couldn’t get out of first gear and stalled, opening to just $5.5 million.
In a surprise, it was beat by “Instructions Not Included,” a $5 million Spanish-language comedy that played at 347 theaters nationwide, compared with 2,130 for “The Getaway.” The Mexican production features Eugenio Derbez, one of that country’s biggest stars, and benefited from the frequent moviegoing habits of American Hispanics.
With $10 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, “Instructions” immediately became the highest-grossing release for Pantelion Films, a three year-old joint venture of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Mexico’s Grupo Televisa that focuses on the Hispanic audience and had struggled to find a break-out hit.
Total box office over Labor Day weekend was a record $157 million, according to Hollywood.com.
Tags: Hispanics, Instructions Not Included, Latinos, Movie Reviews, No se Aceptan Devoluciones
Like 99.9% of all the other movies out there, I wont be wasting my money on it.
IceNoMore on September 3, 2013 at 3:45 pm