Clint Eastwood's masterpiece, Gran Torino, opened wide yesterday in 2,808 theatres to a whopping $9.625 million, reports BoxOfficeMojo.com.That means the film will likely make at least $27 million over the weekend, probably closer to $30 million given its large senior audience's known preference for Saturday/Sunday matinees. That will be Eastwood's biggest opening by a long shot, putting Space Cowboys' $18.1 million in the dust, even when ticket-price inflation is considered.
Gran Torino had been posting record per-theatre-averages in limited release over the past month--it released in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 12 and expanded on Dec. 19--but experts pinned the wide-opening somewhere between $10 million and $15 million.
I have two words for those who underestimated the film: told ya.
I saw the movie on opening day in L.A. and again on Dec. 31 in Orange, and I'll probably go back again before it leaves theatres. It's a great Hollywood entertainment with lots of food for thought on the state of the American city. Since my first viewing, I knew mainstream audiences would love the movie.
But politically-correct left-wing critics clearly found it hard to sympathize with Eastwood protagonist Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War vet. The film opened to underwhelming press, despite a pretty strong initial 71% Rotten Tomatoes rating (now 76%). Detractors said Gran Torino was a flawed, overly simple effort for Eastwood. At least from my perspective, there seemed to be a great deal of doubt the film would do well, perhaps because critics think they're Gods when it comes to creating buzz on this type of WOM-effort.
The haters were wrong. The movie is a huge hit. A $30 million #1 weekend for the intimate drama is exceptional for a movie of its genre with zero star-power beyond Eastwood. Viewers love Gran Torino, too. With 9,501 votes as of this moment, the film ranks as #142 on the Internet Movie Database's Top 250 of all-time. (I invite you to cast a 10/10 vote.)
Prior to the release of Friday's box-office numbers, the film had been counted out for awards. While the first-of-the-season National Board of Review named Gran Torino one of the best films of the year and Eastwood best actor of the year, no other precursor to the Oscars paid much attention to it.
With voter nomination ballots not due until Mon., Jan. 12, perhaps the more-populist Academy will honor this amazing film when it sees moviegoers' love in action. In my opinion, Gran Torino derves nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Screenplay, Original Score, and Original Song.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, please do. You won't regret the decision, especially when the alternatives are The Unborn (my afternoon "treat") and Bride Wars (my torture yesterday). Gran Torino ranked as #4 on my Best of 2008, but I'm willing to bet you've already seen #1 and #3 (The Dark Knight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and that #2 (The Wrestler) isn't playing in your city just yet.
Congratulations, Clint. If this really is your final appearance in front of the camera, then it marks a hell of a way to end your acting career.
To read my review of Gran Torino over on the Bucket Reviews main site, click here.
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