FRED DURST’S THE LONGSHOTS BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORDS

Apparently, some of you think I’ve been too mean to Fred Durst.

Well, some of you should feel free to find another blog to read.

ANYWAY, The Longshots, the first film Durst has directed that has actually gotten a release, debuted at number seven at the box-office in its opening weekend, opening on 2,089 screens and making a little over $4 million dollars with a per-screen average $2,606. That might sound like a lot of money, but in the film business, for a studio movie like this, aimed at families and starring a proven box-office star in the genre, it ain’t good. Not by a, um, longshot.

To give you some idea of what the numbers mean, the number two film, The House Bunny, opened on only about 700 screens more than The Longshots and made just over $15 million with a per-screen average of $5,563; Death Race, the number three film, opened on about five hundred more screens and made just over $12 million with a per-screen average of $4,855. Fuck, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the new Woody Allen movie, is playing on just 692 screens, and still had a per-screen average that was more than twice than that of Durst’s film. In other words, there were a LOT of empty movie theaters exhibiting The Longshots over the weekend.

Now, of course, money isn’t everything, and for all I know, this film was very cheaply made and will ultimately be profitable for the dudes who bankrolled it. But it’s not like Durst can take comfort in critical acclaim: it’s only 38% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that only approximately 38% of all film critics gave it a positive review.

I guess what I’m saying is: get ready for that Limp Bizkit reunion.

-AR