Charlie Stross
Melania makes just £33,000 at UK box office after near-empty screenings: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/melania-trump-movie-documentary-film-b2913744.html
Melania Trump movie fails to crack top 25 as documentary film flops in UK

Documentary, which cost Amazon a reported £54.6m, almost didn’t crack top 30 after sparsely attended showings

The Independent
Feb 4 at 6:41pmWeb
Show threadChristian von Schack 🇳🇴Feb 4
@cstross That’s rather more than I expected, to be honest
Show threadOblomovFeb 4
@cschack @cstross apparently in the US they've been paying people 50$ plus the ticket if they attend and stay put for the whole movie. Wouldn't be surprised if they pulled similar stuff in the UK.
Show threadJeffFeb 4
@oblomov @cschack @cstross Filed under: every accusation is a confession. This time: the right wing accusing leftist protestors of being paid actors hired to show up and fill out attendance numbers...
Show threadRachel RawlingsFeb 4
@overeducatedredneck @oblomov @cschack @cstross I only read about it happening in Boston, but considering the number of times Trump went to Craigslist to fill out his crowds at campaign rallies it's no surprise.
Show threadSteve BellovinFeb 4
@oblomov @cschack @cstross I had the impression that that was a joke. The NY Times did report better-than-normal box office for a documentary (and here I use the word they used…). But their Sunday book review section uses a special footnote to denote reports of bulk purchases—I wonder if that needs to be done for movies like this, too.
Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 4
@SteveBellovin @oblomov @cschack It's a viable money-laundering tactic. Cf. political campaigns buying huge quantities of hardcover books ghost-written for their candidates and shoveling them into landfill. Gets bestseller list publicity, and a non-attributable donation.
Show threadKilla KoalaFeb 4
@oblomov I'll take their $50, as long as I can bring my favourite pillow and blanket with me.
Show threadrobcorneliusFeb 4

@cstross

That much?

Show threadHollieKFeb 4
@robcornelius @cstross Ditto.
Show threadZachary J. AdamFeb 4
@cstross I'm surprised box offices bother counting that low.
Show threadJohn MaxwellFeb 4
@cstross Anybody know what the collective ticket budget for press reviewers etc is?
Show threadPhilippa CowderoyFeb 4
@cstross ...the other Melania's got to be bigger than that by now, right?
Show threadAndrew DeaconFeb 4
@cstross Well that’s £33,000 more than I expected.
Show threadJdeBPFeb 4

@cstross

One of the FediVerse's own reviewers, @beer_mat_movies , was adding to the anecdotes of audiences that were wholly movie reviewers just the other day.

https://mastodonapp.uk/@beer_mat_movies/115999980450841401

The review itself is at the top of that thread.

#Melania #MelaniaTrump #USMovies #Amazon

Beer Mat Movies (@[email protected])

@[email protected] 100% of the audience at my screening were seeing that film because they had to in order to review it. The maths is quite easy to work out, given I was alone in that screening.

Mastodon App UK
Show threadincroyable_BouBouFeb 4
@cstross this is tinly veil bribe by Amazon to the US Cheeto.
Show threadJernej Simončič �Feb 4
@cstross That's a zero more than expected.
Show threadAlaric Snell-PymFeb 4
@cstross I'm trying to figure out how much this is "nobody wants to touch things tainted with Trump" or "it's laughable propaganda" versus "it's a poorly made film"?
Show threadRicardo B�nffyFeb 4
@cstross is it still the worst rated movie in IMDB's history?
Show threadDanForintonFeb 4
@cstross Of which, a sizable chunk came just from reviewers who were paid to go watch it
Show threadAlexander Goeres 𒀯Feb 6
@Charlie Stross 33000 is still quite a lot. how much is a ticket?
Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 6
@jabgoe2089 No idea how much a ticket is, but ballpark will be £10-20. Remember a lot of these folks are reviewers who have to watch it for work, not recreational movie goers!