There’s an old show biz saying that goes something like this…
If people don’t want to see it—there’s no stopping them.
I guess one could apply that expression to the latest feature motion picture to be partially filmed in Kansas City and Johnson County among other mid western locations.
It’s AMERICAN HONEY, a movie about a traveling crew of disaffected teens selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door by day and partying most of the night.
The film was written and directed by Andrea Arnold and stars Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough among others.
Now one would think that with all the local media hype and fluff pieces afforded the movie, it would have opened here strong here this past weekend.
Some local critics even questioned why AMERICAN HONEY was opening at only TWO theaters in the metroplex?
Well, according to my sources, that may have been one theater too many.
Based on average weekend ticket prices as few as 150 people saw the movie at one theater and possible only 100 fans at the second complex.
And that was for the ENTIRE weekend!
Pretty sad, I’d say.
Which makes we wonder how well some earlier motion pictures filmed here performed with the movie-going public across America?
Here are some lifetime box office performances of made-in-KC film fare:
* James Ivory’s MR. & MRS. BRIDGE racked up just $7.7 million in 1990.
* Howard Deutch’s movie ARTICLE 99 shot here in 1992 ended up grossing $ 6.3 million at the domestic box office.
* Robert Altman’s KANSAS CITY fared much worse in 1996 with total ticket sales of only $1.4 million,
* However the big bomb came in 1999 with Ang Lee’s RIDE WITH THE DEVIL that barely made it above the half million dollar mark, topping out at just $635,000.
I know some of you may fault me for judging these locally set/produced movies by their performance at the box office.
Remember though it IS after all Show-BUSINESS.
And nobody wins when a movie doesn’t perform.
So here’s hoping for some good scripts and projects with teeth to be forthcoming for our area.
Until then, it’s been nice having AMERICAN HONEY in town—even if only briefly.
“Are you sayin’, sir, that we fight for nothin’?
Far from it. You fight for everything that we ever had, as did my son. It’s just that… we don’t have it anymore.”
“Ride With The Devil” was a great movie and Ang Lee is a Great Director.
next time a film uses Kansas City locations, in whole or part, maybe the producers and distributors should keep that to themselves.
btw… didn’t Eastwood’s “Byrd” have some KC shots in it?
Yes, portions of Clint Eastwood’s “BIRD” were filmed in KC back in 1988.
But primary photography took place in Stockton and Sacramento, California as well as on the sound stages of the Warner Brother Studios in Burbank.
All in the film grossed only $ 2.2 million domestically.