AN AMERICAN CAROL

Budget: $20 million	Financed by: Mpower Pictures; Moving Picture Institute
Domestic Gross: $7,013,191	Domestic Distributor: Vinvendi Entertainment
Overseas Gross: $8,992	Directed by: David Zucker
Starring: Kelsey Grammer	Produced by: Stephen McEveety

An American Carol was David Zucker’s right wing spoof of left wing politics, which was mostly financed by Mpower Pictures — co-founded by Mel Gibson’s producing partner Stephen McEveety.  The nonprofit group the Moving Picture Institute contributed some backing to the $20 million production.  Newly formed theatrical unit at Vinvendi Entertainment distributed in the US and the film received tons of free press from conservative personalities including Rush Limbaugh, a roster of Fox News personalities and Kelsey Grammer did press throughout the conservative talk show circuit.  Vivendi didn’t screen the pic for critics under the assumption that reviews would be unkind to a conservative film and when the reviews eventually posted, they were hateful regardless of the reviewer’s political leanings.

An American Carol opened over a crowded weekend, with six other films being released — Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Flash of Genius, Blindness, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and Religulous was targeting the exact opposite of the political spectrum.  It was booked into 1,639 theaters and flopped with $3,656,000 — placing #9, when Beverly Hills Chihuahua won the box office and it barely beat out Bill Maher’s Religulous, which was playing in only 502 theaters.  An American Carol declined a steep 61.8% in its second frame to $1,395,000 and promptly lost most of its theater count.  It closed its run with only $7,013,191.  Vinvendi would see returned about $3.8 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving most of the P&A expenses in the red.

A right wing comedy didn’t have much appeal to US moviegoers and it would have none to overseas moviegoers and the few territories where this found a release, it went straight to video and it made all of $8,992 in Croatia.