Topic: CNSNews.com
Craig Bannister writes in a June 4 CNSNews.com blog post:
The movie Hollywood wouldn’t make, a historical drama about the struggle for religious freedom, opened in theaters last Friday (June 1) and debuted in the top 10 in its opening weekend, beating out “The Hunger Games.”
“For Greater Glory,” a movie about Mexican freedom fighters rebelling against a president who sought to crush the Catholic Church by outlawing mass and murdering and expelling priests, cracked the top 10 grossing movies.
Bannister leaves quite a bit of context out of his comparison.
"The Hunger Games" has been in theaters for 11 weeks and it has earned more than $398 million so far. In its opening weekend, "The Hunger Games" earned $152 million, the third-highest debut ever.
Bannister also touts how "For Greater Glory" ranked fifth in per-screen revenue, "with an average take of $2,378 for the weekend." He doesn't mention that, by comparison, the opening weekend for "The Hunger Games" generated a whopping $45,911 average per screen.
"For Greater Glory" had what one might call a respectable showing for an independent film. The return may be a little on the deficient side, though, given how much money was spent to advertise the film in right-wing outlets like Fox News -- not to mention the enthusiastic shilling of the film by CNS and its Media Research Center parent.
(As it just so happens, the film shares a PR agency with the MRC: the conservative-oriented CRC Public Relations. Funny that the MRC didn't mention that connection in its own promotion of the film.)
But Bannister is the one making the ludicrous comparison to a mega-blockbuster like "The Hunger Games."
