Galvanizing conservatives Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan’s documentary 2016: Obama's America grossed a stellar $6.3 million as it expanded nationwide over the weekend, beating a trio of three new films.
The anti-Barack Obama film, opening last month in only a few theaters, now boasts a domestic cume of $9.2 million, the top gross of the year for a documentary (excluding nature films). Bully was the previous crownholder with $3.5 million.
Among other records, Obama's America is now the top conservative documentary of all time, beating out Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ($7.7 million).
Obama's America -- promoted heavily on talk radio and distributed by Rocky Mountain Pictures -- timed its nationwide expansion to the Republican National Convention, which gets underway this week in Tampa, Fla.
Otherwise, it was a dismal weekend for new offerings. Holdovers dominated the box office chart, led by Lionsgate and Millennium Films' The Expendables, which grossed $13.5 million in its second weekend for a 10-day domestic cume of $52.3 million.
Sony's new Joseph Gordon-Levitt action thriller Premium Rush came in No. 8, opening to a muted $6.3 million. The film cost just north of $30 million to produce and is directed by noted screenwriter David Koepp, who co-wrote the script with John Kamps.
Premium Rush centers on a New York City bicycle messenger (Gordon-Levitt) who is pursued throughout the city by a dirty cop (Michael Shannon) who wants an envelope the messenger has. Gavin Palone produced.
New offbeat indie comedy Hit & Run placed No. 10 for the weekend, grossing a disappointing $4.7 million for a five-day opening of $5.9 million.
Hit & Run, from Open Road Films, stars Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold and is a romantic action comedy about a former getaway driver who emerges from witness protection to help his girlfriend get to California.It was produced for less than $2 million, excluding a nationwide marketing spend.
Dark Castle's supernatural thriller The Apparition, which Warner Bros. is distributing, couldn't crack the top 10 in its debut, grossing $2.3 million to come in No. 12. Directed by Todd Lincoln, the film stars Twilight's Ashley Green.
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Anti-Obama movie surges at the box office
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