Not even a bevy of Hollywood stars could save Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Sequel” from a box-office dive as the film earned less in its second weekend despite adding hundreds of screens.
After the film’s lackluster debut, Paramount Pictures launched a trailer last week featuring celebrities like Bono, Randy Jackson, Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine and Shailene Woodley endorsing the documentary by explaining why they are “inconvenient.”
“I’m inconvenient for the future of the planet,” Paul McCartney said in the trailer.
Even so, the documentary starring the former vice president grossed an estimated $800,000 at the box office over the Aug. 11-13 weekend, down from last weekend’s $961,193 gross despite the addition of 376 screens for a total of 556, according to Box Office Mojo.
The sequel to 2006’s “An Inconvenient Truth” also fell from 15th to 18th in its second weekend of wide release on the box-office list, prompting critic Roger Friedman to declare that the film has been “a box office dud so far.”
“After 17 days in release, Gore’s follow up has made just $2 million at the box office. Compare that with $5 million for the original in the same time frame,” Mr. Friedman said on Showbiz 411. “The sequel has turned out to be very inconvenient at least financially.”
Climate skeptics have gleefully chronicled the tepid audience reaction, arguing that it comes as evidence that the public remains leery of the catastrophic-climate scenarios peddled by the Democrat Gore.
Climate Depot dubbed the film “a box office bomb,” while audiences on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a low 47 percent approval rating.
On the other hand, Exhibitor Relations box-office analyst Jeff Bock told Variety that the film could wind up grossing $10 million, a very respectable total for a documentary.
So far “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” has earned $2.29 million, falling well behind the pace of the original, which became the 11th top-grossing documentary after taking in $24 million.
“Although the documentary is performing at less than 50% of the original, Bock said, it still will probably rank among the strongest in that category this year,” said Variety in an Aug. 8 post.
The lukewarm reception comes even though Mr. Gore has tirelessly promoted the film both at home and abroad, appearing last weekend at the film’s debut at the Picturehouse Central in London.
“The first movie added to the momentum of the climate movement, and it is our fervent hope that this one will add another burst of momentum,” Mr. Gore said in an interview before the showing.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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