Hollywood keeps telling us it can’t make pro-American movies because they don’t sell overseas.
Even “Captain America: The First Avenger” had to be stripped of his stripes, patriotically speaking, to ensure solid ticket sales abroad.
Tell that to the international folks clamoring to see “Battle: Los Angeles,” a movie which unabashedly paints U.S. Marines as the good guys.
The new movie came in first at the box office stateside, but it also scored a direct hit across the pond.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter’s take on the film’s overseas haul:
“Battle” also made a major play overseas, grossing $16.7 million from 33 territories for a worldwide bow of $52.7 million.
Huh? Aren’t pro-U.S. movies box office poison? Won’t the French and other Europeans turn their collective noses up at stories in which Americans save the day?
Update: A good point was raised in the comments section. The anti-President George W. Bush film “Green Zone” earned $35 million stateside and $59 million in its overseas haul, according to boxofficemojo.com. “Redacted,” which features a strong anti-U.S. military theme, brought in a whopping $65,000 in the U.S. (yes, that’s in the thousands, not millions) and $716,000 overseas.
Update, the sequel: “Battle: LA” continues to do well overseas in weekend no. 2.
(Photo: Michelle Rodriguez plays a proud member of the U.S. Air Force fighting alongside Marines in “Battle: Los Angeles.” Columbia Pictures)
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
So how does this compare with the opening of the Green Zone, Redacted, etc?
I’m sure they’ll paw paw around the truth and when they finally admit that they’re full of it they will say that one film does not a meme make.
Its sadly predictable. But lucky for us more people seem to understand how this works and don’t care to play the game anyone. If a film is good, it’s good. If its bad but you like it, then to you it’s good. I read Christian Toto, John Nolte and a handful of others but frankly, if I saw the trailer and thought it looked even half interesting, I’ll see it. Who cares what anyone else thinks?
It’s really about the values, not about nations. People all over the world like to see good triumph over evil, and they like to see heroic characters that embody decency and patriotism. It’s just that American films are the ones that most often display these values- good luck finding them in a European film made in the last 30 years!
I admit I was deeply affected by the ending of “K19: The Widowmaker,” which contained a surprising amount of Russian patriotism (despite its critique of the Soviet Union), even though I’ve never even been to Russia. And even the Aussie zombie movie “Undead” had a scene involving the Australian flag that I liked. If a movie embodies the values I care about, then I don’t really care what country it comes from, and I think most people in the world feel the same way.
Whether people want to admit it anymore now that we have been dubbed a Citizen of the World by some guy who plays golf a lot and works at the white house, most people in other countries want to be like Americans. In fact a lot of the draw of Super Heros and Soldiers is being the guy who kicks ass and takes name. People like winners and most of the world still sees America that way. Too bad many living in the US don’t, especially Hollwood.