February (Web-only) 2001

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Moviegoers not enraptured by Left Behind: The Movie

"We're going for number one at the box office," Paul LaLonde, producer of Left Behind: The Movie, told Reuters last week. "We want to be number one." It wasn't even number 12, and grossed a mere $2.55 million (The Wedding Planner, the weekend's top film, brought in an estimated $12 million). Part of its failing certainly had to be due to poor reviews. "A classic case of preaching to the converted, this relentlessly boring movie is unlikely to appeal to anyone except hard-core fans of Christian sci-fi," said the New York Post. Similarly, the Chicago Tribune complained, "Christian moviegoers might find the film interesting, but secular viewers may feel alienated and belittled by it." Another problem was that the film was showing on a mere 950 screens—compared to The Wedding Planner's 2,785. (Still, it also got beat by O Brother, Where Art Thou, which played on a paltry 809 screens.) We'll see what effect the numbers have on the LaLondes' much-ridiculed strategy of releasing the film on video first and having Christians canvass neighborhoods to evangelize neighbors about the film.

The Holy Land Experience opens to sad protest in Orlando For the last week, media outlets worldwide have reported that the opening day of the $16 million, 15-acre Christian theme park The Holy Land Experience would be met by Jewish protests. And indeed it was. Two members of the California-based Jewish Defense League showed up to picket the park's nefarious plans to tell people about Jesus. "We are here to make a militant, angry statement," Jewish Defense League Chairman Irv Rubin said yesterday. But two people isn't militant or angry. It's just sad. Meanwhile, so many visitors streamed in that ...