Populist Films Dominate Late-Summer U.S. Box Office
The top three current U.S. motion picture box office draws all share a populist point of view—but without the ugly politics that often accompany such a perspective.
Number 1 at the U.S. movie box office for the second week in a row is Ben Stiller's comedy Tropic Thunder, which pokes much fun at Hollywood. Usually films about Hollywood don't go over very well with audiences, but this one has more resonance. Its satire about self-absorbed, arrogant Hollyweird actors has broader implications in reference to the increasing distance between American elites and the American people as a whole.
The film's central gag, that the elite actors are fully disconnected from reality and no longer have any idea of what it's like to live in the real world, also applies all too widely to our news media, politicians, professoriate, business leaders, legal profession, and other elites. Hence the film has a strong populist appeal without translating it into the rather ugly politics that typically accompanies populism.
Likewise sending a populist, anti-elite message through comedy is the weekend's number 2 film, House Bunny, written by the scenarists for the equally populist comedy Legally Blonde. House Bunny brought in an estimated $15.1 million, just $1 million less than Tropic Thunder.
In third place with $12.3 million was another new release, the action fantasy Death Race, starring Jason Statham as an elite character brought low: he's a former NASCAR driver framed for murder and sent to prison where he must participate in a win-or-die road race.
The Dark Knight—number 2 during the previous weekend—fell to fourth, at $10.3 million, a large 37 percent drop in ticket sales, and seems unlikely to catch record holder Titanic. The Dark Knight is now at $489 million, good enough for number 2 alltime