Chelsea Movie Theater Pulls The Plug on 'Dirty Laundry' Despite Huge Box Office Opening
By Keith Boykin, in movies
Tuesday, December 11 2007, 1:03AM
Earlier this morning, I posted an article informing you that the Clearview Chelsea Theater in New York had decided to pull the plug on one of the most successful movies playing at its theater. Many of us were completely surprised by the decision because the movie did so well, outperforming both big budget movies and smaller independent movies in per screen average.
Often when we struggle, we forget to take a moment to celebrate our accomplishments along the way. Dirty Laundry sold out 3 weekend performances at the theater and grossed an amazing $12,054 from that one theater alone. That's a major accomplishment. The producers want to thank everyone who called and sent messages today, but they have decided to focus their energy on the positive and would like the fans of the movie to save their energy to continue supporting the film in the theaters where it will be shown.
Statement From The Producers of 'Dirty Laundry'
First, thank you all for being interested in Dirty Laundry and for the support we received over this past weekend. Second, thank you to Keith for being such a champion for the film. However, the producers of the film are strong believers in the laws of attraction - what you focus on will expand. With that said, we think it is best to focus our energy on the positive and moving African-American indie films forward, which this film has done and will continue to do.
Yes, we are disappointed that despite the film's strong showing that it will not continue to play at the Clearview in Chelsea after this Thursday. Quite frankly, the film performed better than what was expected. We knew that the community would support us. We knew that it was a good movie. Unfortunately, the powers that be weren't expecting and prepared for it to perform so well. It's always better to under promise and over perform.
We've decided to focus on getting a new theater for the film in New York, on our Los Angeles showings this weekend and on our expansion on December 28th in Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. We know the film will continue to perform well in those markets and on DVD. We've enjoyed great success with this "little movie that could" and for that we're thankful.
Let's celebrate the accomplishment of last week and look to greater accomplishments for the future. You did it with us and we will be so ever grateful!
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Meade