Having just experienced the Atlanta Mayoral runoff election which was decided by less than 800 votes in a race in which the race issue was looming in the background, I wondered whether the Hollywood awards season would also be marked by the race race. And whether audiences would see beyond racial trappings and just take in a really good movie.
One film this year receiving serious attention for the top awards is “Precious.” In the wake of the tidal wave ushered in by a “New Moon,” “Precious” has seen its recent gains at the box office fall off. Certainly, such losses were expected and will continue as the film runs its first course of release, but a wider release of the film (in more than its present 660 plus theaters) could give it a bounce on the heels of nominations—the Academy Awards nominations are announced on February 2, 2010. “Precious” is executive produced by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, which has helped it gain mainstream appeal. And it won three awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival including top ones—the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize.
One wonders whether “Precious” will hang around theatrically into the new year and see a re-release following the expected nominations. Such a thing has happened in the past. At present, I see no DVD/Blu-Ray release date for the film.
But one lurking question is the race/critical praise effect on “Precious’” box office performance. A little unscientific review of audience tastes during 2009 is telling.
The prolific Tyler Perry has released two movies in 2009—“Madea Goes to Jail” and “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” The comedy, “Madea Goes to Jail” proved to be a huge money maker for Perry bringing in something north of $90 million. And the dramatic “I Can Do Bad” also featuring Perry’s Madea character, in a lesser role, brought in an impressive $51 million and some change. But “Precious,” directed by Lee Daniels, just hasn’t yet seen that kind of gross total money, and is fading. Note that the actual release of “Precious” has been slow and despite a reported “wide” release, has never been anything approaching “Madea’s” 2203 theaters. Therefore, the actual relative performance by “Precious” might be higher than Perry’s recent offerings, but “Precious” distributor Lionsgate has been reluctant to seek a wider release of the film.
Given the critical praise justly afforded “Precious” one wonders whether the adoration of the critics for the movie and the endorsement of Perry has had an inverse affect on its box office performance. Has the bulk of Tyler Perry’s audience stayed away because the stark nature of the “Precious” story hits too close to home? And whether Perry’s name on the top of the poster gives white movie-goers pause? Note that “Madea Goes to Jail” wasn’t screened for critics (at least, I wasn’t invited to a screening) and its eventual Rotten Tomato meter rating (a sampling of critics who actually saw the movie and cared to write about it) stands at a dismal 28% rotten rating. But the more dramatic “I Can Do Bad” faired a lot better with a fresh Tomato meter rating of 62% (although I can’t remember a press screening here in Atlanta for the film). “Bad” just did not ring up the kind of money Perry’s more caricatured “Madea” centered approach often produces. It seems that audiences don’t want to be reminded of serious social issues in a serious film, rather, they appear to be more excited about satirical material. The funny “Madea” sells, the serious “Precious” less so.
The remarkable thing about “Precious” is that while it features a cast of mega-talented African American faces led by newcomer Gabourey “Gabby” Sibide, and the story is very urban, the appeal could be larger than Perry’s African American audience. When I interviewed Perry back in 2006, I remember discussing who his audience was, and he told me that it was largely African American female but he hoped that that would broaden. Certainly, Perry’s audience has begun to widen and his last film even charmed the critics. Perhaps it is inflammatory to suggest that Perry’s brand might hamper cross-over appeal of the “Precious.” And if that is true, it is a shame. Viewers of all walks of life should seek out good cinema, whether it focus on issues confronting one race or the other.
Still, as the critics warm to such films, whether directed by Perry or not, audiences grow colder. Typically, when a small film gathers praise of the critical intelligentsia, that film makes more money than it would have absent such good reviews. Small films depend greatly on word of mouth sometimes led by critics. “Precious” reportedly made for a sizable but relatively small budget of $10 million has received wonderful word of mouth, however, with a word of caution—the movie is frank and not what folks expected. In other words, “Precious” hits the viewer hard reminding them of the real world outside the theater. And maybe that is the main reason why Lionsgate has yet to dump the movie wider and why audiences have not rewarded it with Perry like numbers. Or maybe the awards season will correct all that and “Precious” will be screened everywhere to be seen by viewers of all races. The race race is afoot and “Precious” is the cross-over to watch.
