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Tuesday, May 08, 2012

'Bully':
Highest Grossing Documentary of 2012


Give movie mogul Harvey Weinstein his due. Master of effective campaigns that win Oscars for small films and never shying away from controversy, he milked the rating brouhaha over the "Bully" film for all it was worth.

Even before it opened, Weinstein was able to bring attention not just to the film but to the national problem of gay teens suffering bullying, generating much discussion online and on cable news shows. Thanks, dude!

Earlier this week, Peter Knegt over Indie Wire delivered the good news in his specialty box office column about the healthy profits for the film:

Lee Hirsch's much-discussed doc "Bully" held steady on 263 screens in its fourth weekend with a "PG-13" rating.  The film dropped 49% in grosses and took in $168,000 as a result. That made for a weak $639 average as it took its gross so far to $2,534,877. Considering it has clearly peaked, the film should end up with a still impressive final gross around $3 million. Notably, it's already the highest grossing doc of 2012, just ahead of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."

I'm sure "Bully" will reap even higher grosses, and reach a wider audience once it comes out on DVD and is available in other formats in a few months.

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