Christians steaming across America

It is so fun watching the Christians steaming over Brokeback Mountain. They fussed and fumed and lied as much as they could. They kept howling that the film was being foisted on people by some left-wing plot and that it had no support. They ignored the box office records that repeatedly were showing that the film was doing something which the pundits said was not possible——appeal to a mainstream audience.

As I've reported the film was being released slowly but as it moved in typical "Middle America" it was still going strong. The American Taliban denied it was so. They prayed it wouldn't be so. Once again their prayers were ignored.

Brokeback has been in the top ten rather consistently until Tuesday of this week. On Tuesday the film grossed $742,412. That made it the number one film in the country for the first time. On Wednesday it grossed $748,028 and held the number one spot for a second day. That it grossed this amount is actually impressive when you realize that it's only showing in 683 theaters. The previous number one film, Glory Road, did pass the $700,000 mark even though it was being shown in 2,222 theaters.

Focus Features, the producers of the film, had originally planned to have the film in 300 cinemas by the end of January. But they more than doubled that last week and have now announced that come this weekend the film will expand again to 1,194 screens. That's four times what they were planning on doing at this time. Focus says they believe the film will be the highest earning film in the company's history.

The film has also just been released in some foreign markets. In the UK, during it's second week of release, it is already holding the number one spot though playing on just 275 screens. And it was just released in Paris where it is also holding the first place honors. The critics like the film, the movie industry likes the film, and the indications are that the public likes it as well. The Taliban will fuss and fume and spout hate but this is one battle they lost. The only unaswered question now is whether the film will walk off the Academy Award for best film of the year. And it is the odds on favorite. And if that happens expect another big surge at the box office.

At some point the Taliban will figure out that one problem with living the Dark Ages is that the rest of world will pass you by.