So, how did Sicko do at the box office in its opening
weekend? It premiered
in 441 theaters and grossed $4.5 million, for an average theater
gross of about $10,200. That was good enough for 9th place.
Of course, it is difficult to judge a Michael Moore film. On the
one hand, it's a documentary and documentaries, on average, never
do as well at the box office as other movies. When viewed from that
perspective, $4.5 million is a strong opening.
On the other hand, it is a Michael Moore film with all
of the attendant hype and promotion. His previous film
Fahrenheit 9/11
premiered in 868 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed
$23.9 million, for an average theater gross of about $27,560.
Relative to his last film, Sicko is a bit of a dud.
My rough guess is Sicko will gross about $30 million in
the U.S. Impressive for a documentary, but not that great compared
to Fahrenheit and given all of the PR Moore has generated
for the film.
Looks like America's appetite for a documentary about health
care is, well, not all that healthy.
topics:
Movies
