Matt Damon’s “Promised Land,” a film pitting a rural Pennsylvania community against a greedy natural gas company, hit theaters in limited release over the weekend.
Turns out there’s little pent-up demand for a Hollywood tale trashing the process of fracking.
The film’s $7,606 average compares to Damon and Van Sant’s previous $13,142 opening average for “Gerry” in 2003, although that title opened in two theaters compared to “Promised Land‘s” 25. Oscar-winner “Good Will Hunting” bowed back in 1998 with a $38,987 average in 7 theaters.
Damon’s film had the luxury of many high-profile media interviews on the subject as well as an Oscar season push.
Two other films with heavy media saturation, “Django Unchained” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” fared far better over the weekend.