March of the Penguins Tops Box Offices

Zinside writes "Yahoo News is running a story stating that March of the Penguins may become the No. 2 documentary of all time at U.S. box offices." From the article: "The film, which follows a pack of Emperor Penguins during an arduous mating season, had grossed $18.4 million by Wednesday and was poised to surpass the $21.6 million for Michael Moore's anti-gun documentary Bowling For Columbine. For 13 months, Jacquet and his crew braved Antarctic temperatures as low as 70 degrees below zero - and winds up to 150 mph - to capture astonishing images of thousands of emperor penguins engaging in a mating and child-rearing ritual that is nothing short of astonishing. The Penguins are a miraculous species, capable of extreme heroism, self-sacrifice, sorrow and unshakable love."

Comments

What does it say about the mainstream audience?

[ReformedExCon]

I am fascinated that a nature documentary is garnering this much attention. I'm not sure if it is saying something about the audience, or if it is saying something about the quality of this season's Hollywood crop.

There is a meme in certain circles that G-rated films gross higher than R-rated films. Could this kind of flocking (hehe) to see a documentary about penguins be indicative of a trend towards a silent audience demand for wholesome, informative movies rather than violent and crass fare?

Anti-gun?

[skingers6894]

I'm not sure "Bowling for Columbine" was simply "anti-gun". I seem to remember that it went a little deeper than that. If I remember correctly the movie asked why the per capita gun-related murders in the U.S. were higher than Canada even though the per-capita gun ownership was lower.

Something like that. While it was a gun related documentary I don't think it was imply "anti-gun".

Anyway, no such controversy with the penguin movie - it's pro penguin alright.

Re:Anti-gun?

[OSXCPA]

Bowling for columbine was not, in my opinion, 'anti gun'. The thing I got from the film that I think transcends anything Moore has caught hell for, is the sheer magnitude of the effect fear has on a culture. Those of you who spent adolescence in a state of hormonal turmoil whipped by abject fear, you know exactly what I mean. American media subscribe to the 'it bleeds, it leads' and as a result, despite decreasing rates of violent crime (go google it) from 1970-2000, reporting on crime went way up. Consequence - we don't let our kids play outside unless there is a fleet of adults around, because 'something bad' might happen. And it might, but it is no more likely today than it was in 1975, when I was running around outside alone. A kid today would be safer than I was, but fear doesn't let us (Americans) accept that. I'm curious what expats living in the US think.