This weekend, An Inconvenient Truth brought in $1.16 million, bringing its total to $15.04 M. This means it's the 4th highest grossing documentary ever, after F911, March of the Penguins, and Bowling for Columbine. What does this mean?
Well, the bad news is the theater count went down 25 screens, so perhaps it will not play any more widely than it already is.
But the good news is that the drop in grosses from last weekend to this is less than that of any other movie above it in grosses except for the kid cartoon Cars - although there's considerably irony in that juxtaposition, I guess. More good news - it's 7th in per theater audience average, meaning "Truth" is still putting butts in the seats at the multiplex, and continuing thereby to spread the word about our planetary crisis.
I think one of the reasons the movie is so compelling is that Gore's absolute sincerity comes across, very clearly. His decades of work on the issue are also clear on screen, and that, combined with his humor and likeability which come across here, as they have in his recent TV appearances, much better than when he was running in 2000, make the message easier to believe, I think, for those not already inclined to hear it from a Democrat.
I believe him when he says he doesn't plan to run for President (although I wish he would) - I believe Al Gore has found his calling, to change the hearts and minds of the people and thus create a force for change that politicians will have to pay attention to. I think he tried the "top down" way while he was in office, and discovered its limitations - now, he's trying the preacher route, and so far, so good.
I've been urging all my friends not to "wait till it's on video" to see this film - go see it in the theater. It's a political act, not just a trip to the movies.