Viola Davis IS The Woman King!

Is she still trying to be a sex symbol/superhero?

She’s terribly miscast in this film.

Greasy!

Unless she takes them out with her runny nose, I ain't buying it

This bitch!

Why does she keep getting so many acting roles?

She's a horrible actress.

It's as though the people who cast her are desperate to win some kind of award, since she's Oscar-bait.

Miss Thing is way too fucking old for this role.

R4, is that you, Glenn?

The comments on that video are pathetic.

There's a new right wing twist to slavery nowadays: Africans themselves are to blame!! (The movie is about one of the tribes that helped sell slaves)

We see rhose excuses on DL all the time--as if the European demand wasn't the driver of the whole thing

R4 No, she is not. In fact she is a great actress but this film has flop written all over it

R5 That's not a new right wing twist, most slaves were just war prisioners from other tribes they sold. Yes, the europeans bought them and other africans sold them In fact that's just the fist chapter of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

I saw this trailer & my immediate thought was "DL is going to have a field day with this one!"

R8, it's definitely a new right wing twist to shift blame for slavery on the tribes that sold the slaves.

You go gurl!

Rotten Woketatoes is probably inflating the grades because… black.

This role would have been perfect for Grace Jones.

R10 But the tribes sold the slaves, it's not nothing new it's in history books, europeans bought the slaves that the tribes sold

Really r12. Your being a white gay male just indicates what a privilege life you've led huh. You're actually joining right wing trash in this anti-woke crap. I hope when they start calling you f@g and beating your punk ass up you don't run to minorities for solidarity. You fucking piece of sell out trash

Disaster!!! Who will Viola blame the failure on this time?

R15 is having a Grand Maul Seizure!

[quote] But the tribes sold the slaves, it's not nothing new it's in history books, europeans bought the slaves that the tribes sold

Yes, but the huge demand that the europeans had spurred them tribes to capture more and more to sell.

No one sells without demand.

R16: Racism and sexism. Her PR is probably crafting her response as we speak.

R4: I thought I was the only one. She's the definition of one-note. Alfre Woodard is far more talented.

R15 you can’t see the condescension and inequity in the superficial biases and cultural handicapping?

I hate how Americans play "Haaaffrrrichaaan"

R23 how do you mean?

Is anyone going to see it?

Was the character considered to be sexually alive in real life? Because Viola can't help the sensuality she oozes when she graces the screen.

I think this will flop. They first were hoping for a $20 million opening and now they have reduced it to $12 million.

I don't have the issues with her that some of you have, but is she a big enough name to open a movie like this?

I doubt it. We’ll find out soon enough.

R15 This is how they are! They are white before they are gay. Just like their women are white before they’re women. The Republican Party is white trash voting against their best interests it’s not shocking white gays do the same. They can talk all the shit they want, it’s pretty clear they want to destroy this country and send it back to the dark ages.

Touted as the real-life “Black Panther,” Sony’s “The Woman King” is aiming to collect at least $15 million in its domestic debut. Independent box office observers are optimistic that opening weekend returns could reach $18 million. Yet Sony, who co-financed the movie with eOne, is projecting $12 million, in line with 2018’s “Widows,” which also starred Davis. Replicating those ticket sales would be tepid, at best, since “The Woman King” carries a $50 million price tag.

R28 I feel like Viola Davis is a Twitter effect. Twitter is the real world in an alternative universe. Where all Gen Z are purple haired trannies and all black people give a shit about white politics and everyone is woke and every conservative is a Klan Member and Viola Davis is the Slay Queen!

But the truth is, the media and industry and several industries follow Twitter as this voice / standard of society.

She’s very much gassed and hyped on Twitter and it never translates into anything beyond that.

And the box office will show that. I’ll watch the movie but I’ll wait for it to stream.

r10

I mean, this film glorifies people who fought for their right to sell slaves, seems relevant to bring it up in that context...

I wonder if her much derided performance as Michelle Obama has taken off some of the shine? Well, I hope for both her sake and ours, the movie is a success. There's less tension in the air when Viola feels seen, acknowledged, and desired.

98% on Rottentomatoes, with 53 reviews so far.

Now this is some FINE acting, Viola!

Keep up the good work!

[quote] 98% on Rottentomatoes, with 53 reviews so far.

Does this mean 98% rotten?

I don’t think the good reviews matter. It’s really who will turn out and pay money for a Viola Davis movie.

Viola Davis is not a actor who can carry a movie

White, Latin and certainly not Asian people don’t want see this shit. Asian people will be mugged if they attend this movie.

Black men don’t want to see this shit. It’s not like Viola is hot….far from it. Leaving only black women as the market.

R39 Whites only like slave movies where black people are being tortured or when black people are in despair.

The only movie that went against that was “Hidden Figures” and “Black Panther” which shows black films can be upbeat and successful.

This is random but I think they should do a black version of “Onibaba” during the end of the Civil War era. Or maybe set in Haiti during the massacre where they use a voodoo mask.

Viola would actually be great as the hag.

They should have cast Beyonce.

I can’t think of a single person who would see this in a theater. I wonder who Viola will blame.

I am a 70 yo white lesbian and my partner and I are seeing the film this weekend. R40, you are wrong about white people.

Oh good. Tell us if anyone else is in the theater with you.

Oprah wants you to see it.

There goes ticket sales

she's hideous!

Older lesbians seem excited 🧈🦵🦵

I will wait for the Blaine and Antwan review.

[quote]I am a 70 yo white lesbian and my partner and I are seeing the film this weekend. [R40], you are wrong about white people.

Yeah, liberal white women and gay men (the worst SJWs) will be in attendance.

R24 Po faced and with a ridiculous accent.

Gayle just interviewed her on CBS. It was tiresome to watch. Perfect role for V because she is militant and angry as fuck. It’s so fitting how they rewrote history and ignore this group’s part in the slave trade. For the comment above that it’s not their fault: if there is no grocery story, you can’t buy the laundry detergent.

My biggest problem with the viewing public is that they're superficial. They would rather a model like Iman, pose with a spear and sashay across the screen then whisper smoldering "I am a WARRIOR!" Then a set of back up dancers do some choreographed number with a flash of panty in between. They would rather that than watch some real ass gangsta shit with strong black women playing warriors who trained hard and were willing to risk it all to fight the enemy and save their tribe, it whatever the plot is. DL and its disdain for Viola demonstrates this superficiality

I hope this movie flops. I'm tired of this overrated cry baby and her antics.

Now that I think about it Lupita Nyong'o would have probably been the better choice for this role.

So tired of the fury of this vengeful victim. Viola needs an attitude adjustment and some restraint.

R57 as Whitney Houston once said: Viola deserves an open handed slap on her mouth.

Lupita Nyong'o is amazing yet horribly underused in films these days. She must have pissed off the wrong producer.

I’m one of the very few on this thread who thinks this trailer looks promising.. I’ll report back once I’ve watched it on the silver screen.

OP, she is neither.

Dutchie = chocolate queen

LOL at Donna Brazile being excited

🦵🧴🦵

She Ugly...

The far left and far right are two cults with much in common. They both desire racial supremacy and want to get it through sowing discord.

R57 nailed it!

Of course it gets a 98% rating on RT. what movie critic in their right mind would say it's less than stellar? It could be a career ender if they didn't like it and said so.

[quote] Of course it gets a 98% rating on RT

Yeah, 98% ROTTEN!

Just like that shithead Viola Davis.

She is a butch thing for sure.

There is a horrible story which the American media is ignoring but the French media is going full-out on. In Africa, albinos (and apparently there are a lot of them) get murdered all the time so witch doctors can steal their body parts for magic. They also think they have sapphires hidden behind their eyes. A little boy was kidnapped in Madagascar and massacred. The police finally arrested the 4 men who did it. A bunch of people from the village were enraged about what happened to the little boy and went to protest at the police station. The cops shot and killed 19 of the protestors. Charming people. Obviously evil colonizers are to blame.

This woman is insufferable.

She's so used to having people kiss her ass, and it fucking annoys me.

That's why the bad reviews for her portrayal of Michelle Obama, were so hilarious.

The bitch needs to take several seats.

Always too angry about something. I can't watch her.

If this flops, will it have repercussions on her career or is she just the black Meryl and will be offered everything no matter what? I agree with everybody else; I'm so sick of this intolerable, overrated diva.

she is as insufferable as Billy Porter

They are really desperate to make her a box office star in addition to acclaimed actress. The most recent poster had only her name for the first time above the title.

LIKE THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!! SINCERELY LIKE VIOLA OR ATONE! VIOLA DEMANDS ATONEMENT!!!

- R54

Viola and Timmy. Two ugly, insufferable overrated individuals in one day.

R70 and the US doesn't have a society where black people are killed inhumanely either, right? Why, the police force lays its collective jacket for black people each time they are about to step in mud. You have some nerve, colonizer twat, for passing judgment when your backyard is far from tidy. At least they can claim ignorance and superstition for their crimes, how do you explain lynchings in good old US of A?

Absolutely, R67.

Expect a record-shattering 121% CERTIFIED FRESH for Disney's Welfariel as well.

Isn’t the issue that Viola keeps promoting herself? Now she is a producer so she is pushing these pet projects. I don’t know if it’s demand as much as her ego believing her presence is so important.

The slave trade predates and postdates the colonial period. The immensely rich Mali Empire, which you don't hear much about, was based on the slave trade. At the time, Africa's main commodity was slaves--the continent wasn't and still isn't suited for more than subsistence farming and the Sahara created all sorts of limits for trade. Arabs were big slave traders. Some still are.

The slave trade was global. Lots of blame to go around.

A report came out of the UN last week that slavery keeps going up. There are now 50 million slaves in the world.

R81 please kindly fuck off. Chattel slavery benefited mainly by the Europeans and Americans was very different from the shavery in Africa you referenced.

I want a slave for Christmas!

A big black buck, please.

[Quote] The immensely rich Mali Empire, which you don't hear much about, was based on the slave trade.

No, the Mali empire’s wealth came from gold, salt, and elephant ivory.

[Quote] The slave trade was global. Lots of blame to go around.

Sure, and the North and South American routes were by far the biggest.

The new right wing—Everyone had slaves! Stance

A new report came out saying people are just not that into Viola Davis.

The Woman King and Elle cover model

What most people don't know is the vast majority of slavers were Portuguese and the vast majority of the slaves kidnapped from Africa went to Brazil, not to the US. And slavery was only abolished in Brazil in 1888.

[quote] Yes, but the huge demand that the europeans had spurred them tribes to capture more and more to sell.

And the tribes did it.

Have you seen Amistad? Interesting movie about slaves who took over a Portuguese slave ship and commandeered it and wound up in court in Boston. "Between 1807 and 1860, the Royal Navy, West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1600 ships involved in the slave trade and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard these vessels". I didn't know that though in the film they show the British navy bombarding a slave-holding station in Sierra Leone.

We don't really learn anything about the slave trade, how it operated in Africa and how it built the US economy. With Republicans in charge, we never will.

R51 you sound like a hate-crazed non-white person. Get some help,

And you sound like a Klan Aunty r93

Hating Viola Davis and hating slavery CAN be mutually exclusive.

She's a whingeing, complaining, annoying, egotistical, CUNT!

I hate slavery, but I hate Viola Davis more!

It's a campfest for the ages. But people will be scared to admit they were sick from laughing.

R91 Like the tribe in this film.

The tribe depicted in this film helped build Dahomey by selling slaves.

I’m wondering how they’re going to create these women into heroes when they were the ones who sold their own people to the Europeans.

Via Twitter

I like this "Via Twitter" better, R98.

What I find most interesting about this is that all the blame of the worlds problems are put on the patriarchy but when you look at some of history’s dark side from colonization to slavery, there’s women behind it.

Isabella funded Columbus and the Dahomey Amazon women maintained one of the biggest African slave trades.

Everyone’s hands are dirty.

[quote]Was the character considered to be sexually alive in real life? Because Viola can't help the sensuality she oozes when she graces the screen.

Isn't that just the snot oozing from her nasal membranes?

I just saw it. it was great. If you hate Viola you'll hate it obviously. If you're simply indifferent about her, you'll enjoy it.

What did you like about the movie r102?

Was the theater full?

R98 Hannah Jones condemning it looks bad.

R104 That bitch hates everything.

That bitch is the One to Rule Over Them All because of the 1619 Project.

I used to really enjoy Viola Davis but she's been giving herself really bad press the last couple of years and now I can't stand to hear her voice or see her on any screen. "How To Get Away With Murder" was grasping for viewers in its last few seasons and when she turned up in a DC movie I rolled my eyes and wished I could fast forward the thing. She's always so hostile and cranky.

No one is going to see this.

Viola Davis is 100% ROTTEN.

Viola and her ilk are always tweeting about something that ended over 150 years ago, from smart phones made in the present by child slave labor.

So did R36, R99

I don't mind Viola, her self seriousness kind of makes me laugh. I think the movie will flop though.

I think, based on her age, she's still pissed that she was discovered this late in her career. When she showed up in Hollywood, no one was casting black women who looked like her in lead roles, and now she's almost 60 and, just how many more shopping days are left for her career? I think that sticks with her and makes her appear more angry than she probably is.

The stills make her look like she's starring in [italic]The Don King Story.[/italic]

[quote] I think, based on her age, she's still pissed that she was discovered this late in her career. When she showed up in Hollywood, no one was casting black women who looked like her in lead roles, and now she's almost 60 and, just how many more shopping days are left for her career? I think that sticks with her and makes her appear more angry than she probably is.

I think this too. In a way it's quite sad that she's pissed about being discovered later in life. People like Alison Janney and Bryan Cranston who were discovered later in life seem content with how their careers turned out. Viola should take some pages from their books instead of constantly acting like petulant cunt.

How do you make a Viola Davis role dance?

Put a little boogie in it.

Unattractive women - white or black - don't get lead roles in films. Viola was never attractive and no way she would have got roles from Angela Bassett who is 100X hotter than she is and just as good an actress.

I really wish she was not in this role. I'm not crazy about Viola Davis' acting and I think she should do contemporary American roles.

Does Viola go nude in this? I hope she does full frontal. She's so sexy and a 56-year-old woman showing her hot body is a statement.

Go Viola!! Show us that Woman King Pussy!!

Is Viola tears in this film?

Because she look lika a man

TRANS ^

Damned autocorrect

I just get so sick of interviews that give her a chance to talk about her two favorite subjects: how great she is and how bitter she is.

Alternate Universe Dream casting: LaWanda Page would have been so much better in this.

Judy Garland would crush this role

Are there any token whites in this film as evil colonialists?

[quote] Are there any token whites in this film as evil colonialists?

You bet your cornbread there are.

Considered black Americans are only 12 percent of the population- yet commit a very large percent of the crime, I think the BLM movement needs a littke mire critical thinking associated with it. You can’t paint yourself always the victims when you’re just fucking not.

Considering black Americans comprise only 12 percent of the population- yet commit a very large percentage of the crime, I think the BLM movement needs a little more critical thinking associated with it. You can’t paint yourself as always the victim when you’re just fucking not.

I think this movie will be lucky to make $8 million this weekend. They are trying to hype it, but I am not sensing any interest (besides older lesbians like Oprah, Gayle and Donna Brazile).

If the movie flops, will we finally be rid of Viola Davis, once and for all???!!!!

Please, please, please!!!!

r129, are you crazy? Already all the children in my neighborhood are begging their mothers to let them go as the Agojie for Halloween!

[quote] Po faced and with a ridiculous accent.

Hey leave me out of this. And I talk just fine.

This film will be a box office SMASH.

All the people who don't go see it are RACIST!!

Viola claimed in an interview her character saves Africans from evil white slavers. Whereas in reality - Hannah Jones dixit - this bunch sold slaves to European slavers.

[quote] Viola claimed in an interview her character saves Africans from evil white slavers.

THIS is why we hate her.

She's so fucking full of herself.

Like Oprah, but POORER.

Viola has never ever seemed to understand the difference between her and Meryl Streep much less a Julia Roberts. She assumes it's just race.

Does she sweat profusely or drip snot in this film?

I can't.

R129: They hyped the shit out of it on CBS these Black Mornings. They had Viola and John Boyega do separate interviews in one telecast. I wish like everybody else that this bombs and that we will be rid of this ugly inside and out woman once and for all.

No critic is going to risk cancellation and attack from the woke mob by giving this anything other than superlative adjectives. Still this has flop written all over it and I don’t see this appealing to broad audiences.

Here she is on the cover of Elle. This sullen harpy has bullied- er- convinced many that she is a beauty. Not by a mile.

She draws upon that well of negative energy in roles that call for intensity, but she is not the great actor she demands others affirm.

Pass

I also like she has bullied a lot of people in the media. She's bound to have a downfall from that at some point.

I don't know if it's photographers, her publicist, or her own style, but she always seems to have two kinds of facial expression and persona.

In photo shoots and interviews, she has a full range of emotions and looks like an ordinary woman - smiles, nods, thoughts, depth, etc.

But when she's on a set or featured in a trailer, she always looks stone-faced and downright unattractive. Actresses are supposed to emote, but she goes full robot!

Same with Kanye West. He deliberately does NOT smile for cameras, but he has admitted that he does this on purpose. Viola gives no explanation for her weird habit.

Black folks were sold to white people by black people, and it went on for centuries or millennia.

This movie and history have nothing to do with each other.

Also, VD is just too much. I'm sick of her shit. IDK if she's arrogant or just obnoxious, or both.

This will undoubtedly bomb, and probably quite badly. I expect the black Meryl to be utterly exhausted and very loud about it.

I might do very well at the box office. All I know is that I won't be contributing to the ticket sales.

My sources on Twitter tell me that people camped out over night to get into the theater. Thank you Lord for giving me a huge box office film, as big as Star Wars.

I truly think people are getting tired of the rote messaging in pop culture that “whites are the enemy”. The fact is that power corrupts in general, and you see this in most cultures in the world—African nations have more than enough examples. Black people—or rather, black Americans—are just pissed off that they weren’t the ones in power. It’s as simple as that. This is why so many delusionally pride themselves on being “kings” and “queens”, while simultaneously criticizing monarchies (that “I hope the dying queen is in pain” outburst from that oh-so-marginalized Nigerian-American professor is a perfect example). Countries led by black people do just as evil of things as ones led by white people. Power is the common denominator. But they don’t acknowledge this.

R149 Does this movie have that message?

A film can be about strong Black characters and not have any such "Whites are the Enemy" message to it. Look at Black Panther. Look at Coming to America. Look at Boyz in The Hood. These are iconic stories about Blackness that in no way paint non-Black people as an enemy or antagonist.

Per Wikipedia, the director forced one of the actresses to read Roxane Gay’s memoir to prepare for filming a rape scene. Talk about EXHAUSTING.

Speaking of a woman king, why doesn't Regina King get roles like this? She's a lot easier on the eyes.

She’s a better actress too R152, and has been around a long time

R152 Danai Gurira also deserves better than cable television. She should've played Nina Simone, and surely still can someday.

Robert Downey Jr. played a geriatric superhero in the Iron Man franchise even though he looked way too old for the part, but somehow it was a success. I don't see why this is a problem.

R151 Forcing someone to read Roxie Gay is a form of intellectual rape.

It made $1.7 million from Thursday.

[quote] [R10] But the tribes sold the slaves, it's not nothing new it's in history books, europeans bought the slaves that the tribes sold

It is true. The Africans who sold others into slavery were at war and trying to preserve resources for their own tribe/community survival. If they'd not sold them they probably would have killed opposing tribes. However, they could not have known they were cursing themselves for eternity or that their actions would visit moral ruin and depravity on the entire world. If they had knowledge of today they would have killed the opposing tribes instead of selling them to Europeans.

The problem with Americans is we can never not run something into the ground. Racial equality is important. Calling out racism is important. But when you spend all your time harping on it, people stop listening.

Sweet Black Jesus!!! I've had to F&F and block every other post in this thread! Fighting racism is exhausting. I am going to take a well-deserved nap.

R150 aside from Black Panther, the other films you mentioned are around 30 years old. I’m talking about more current trends in media.

R161 And yet those three movies have iconic status in American cinema, and most of the films made under "current trends in media" are so forgettable they vanish before they even leave theaters. There's a lesson in that.

I'm surprised only one person on here is redtagged. Damn, what a mess.

Agree that Lupita would have been a better choice. She's gorgeous. And Grace Jones in her prime would have been awesome as well. Viola looks like someone's cranky old grandma.

I must have missed the memo. Evidently Lupita was supposed to star but backed off the project in 2020.

So far, we have one person who claims to have seen it.

Viola is no Pam Grier.

I'm gonna place my bet that this movie will flop. I just watched the trailer, and I don't know who the audience will be. Who would want to see a bunch of angry black women acting like crazed, violent war mongers jacked up on testosterone? In other words, acting like the worst men.

Has any man eaten her pussy lips?

[quote] Who would want to see a bunch of angry black women acting like crazed, violent war mongers jacked up on testosterone?

Worldstar

Twitter is going nuts about the clumsy way this film is misrepresenting actual African history.

That sounds odd. You wouldn't expect twitter users to know anything about African history beyond Roots and Wakanda.

Does this mean people are actually seeing it or just bitching about it?

Based on Thursday, they (Viola publicist) project $13-16 million but the studio’s projecting $12. I am sticking with $8 m.

It's refreshing to see a black woman lead a film that isn't a Tyler Perry dramedy or a slave flick. The Atlantic slave trade might be in the backdrop of this film but she isn't a maid, slave, or servant. You get my drift.

Now to add to the discussions of slavery that have taken root here, it doesn't matter that other tribes sold other people with dark skin to white slavers. Africa was not comprised of vast powerful nations. These tribes were not of the same culture, nation; they often didn't even speak the same language. I feel like white people sometimes introduce that tidbit about blacks selling blacks, which is true to diminish the holacaust that was the Atlantic slave trade. They were not "black" or one ethnic group like African-Americnas living in the US today or Jamaicans. They were "black" in that they all had dark skin living on the Western part of the continent Africa.

Even if it flops, the woke critics will still somehow try to spin it as positive.

[quote] they (Viola publicist) project $13-16 million but the studio’s projecting $12. I am sticking with $8 m

The movie will be lucky if it cracks $3 million.

If you are going to justify blacks selling blacks into slavery because the groups were not the same, it necessarily follows the whites buying those sold slaves were even moreso justified because they were even less alike.

We like your thinking.

R178, you are a fucking idiot. This isn't the blame Olympics. Rich powerful European nations bought and sometime stole human bodies for a 6 month horrendous voyage that had human beings locked in chains in their own feces and vomit. They were then taken to a new land were said powerful nations continued to systematically abuse, rape, beat, and oppress. It was law; it was slavery. The very great nation that we live in today practiced it.

After slavery these people who had been traumatized for 400 years were given no reparations. I guess they should have looked into the African tribes which no longer even fucking existed because of colonialism. Do you get it now?

Furthermore I wasn't even justifying blacks selling blacks. If some of these tribes people had been the color purple would you even have an argument.

Is this a superhero movie or a somewhat historical drama like Braveheart?

Go Viola! It’s your birthday! We gonna party like it’s your birthday!

[quote] Is this a superhero movie or a somewhat historical drama like Braveheart?

It's a motherfucking documentary!

Amazons were lesbians. Is Viola a lesbian in this?

Can we please stop using the phrase "black and brown BODIES"? It is totally dehumanizing, and yet has somehow become a fetishized academic token phrase for the racial justice crowd and gender studies professors across the US and beyond. I don't get it.

[quote] Can we please stop using the phrase "black and brown BODIES"? It is totally dehumanizing, and yet has somehow become a fetishized academic token phrase for the racial justice crowd and gender studies professors across the US and beyond. I don't get it.

You don't get it because your not making space for our allies that we are in community with.

^you're

R183 ahahaha. That made me laugh. Thanks.

R185 I don't think it's dehumanizing but I find it somewhat troublesome too. However I don't want my black card taken away.

I think Viola has surpassed M. in DL's vitriol. I mean as much as M. is loathed on here she still will have a lot of fans, defenders on her threads. This is interesting.

I wouldn’t want to watch a movie called “Hidden Fingers,” I’d just wonder the whole time where they are … and what they’re doing.

Still no one here has seen it? Ouch.

Viola Davis Says That Audiences Who Don’t See ‘The Woman King’ Are “Supporting The Narrative That Black Women Cannot Lead The Box Office Globally”

[quote] Viola Davis Says That Audiences Who Don’t See ‘The Woman King’ Are “Supporting The Narrative That Black Women Cannot Lead The Box Office Globally”

Her point being??

R195 if you don’t see it on opening weekend you’re in the klan

Did she really say that. Well that explains the hate. That's really arrogant.

R197 yep, verbatim in the clip at R194

It's only a matter of time before her arrogant attitude bites her in the ass.

Why is she so brittle? What is her problem?

She must realize that the promotional stills from this movie embody every white person’s deep-seated fears.

Equality is not the real plan, it’s a guise for obtaining power to abuse it, that is the only goal.

Does she really think that argument is going to work with the kind of people who go to see action movies??

I really don't care one way or the other about Davis. She's a good enough actor and the chip on her shoulder may be there for legitimate reasons. However, some of the comments in this thread just goes to show that black actors can't win. You don't want them playing mermaids or Jedis or hobbits. So here's a movie, with some historical context, played by black actors, and you're still upset. What will make you happy?

Finally, get off the fucking cross. No one hates white people. And if they did, why should you care. White people are still at the top of the food chain. No matter how many calls there are for diversity, equity and inclusion most of the people who pull the strings in the world are straight white men. White people have not lost any power, where it really matters. And I'm sorry that Trump has poisoned your brains so much that you now see yourselves as victims. You should really see someone for some help with that.

Viola Davis can be insufferable, but she's not your problem.

Every woke millennial gay will rush to the Saturday matinee, posting selfies along the way till the credits roll, to prove they’re not racist.

Viola Trump

I’ve lost any patience with her. Just admit that you are not a box office star and support someone else. Her mission is dwarfed by her ego and delusion.

R202 it’s the problem with the woke guilt bullshit, it never changes the people that are actually the problem, if it ever even reaches them in the first place. It’s just guilts and condescends to those that are already advocates and slowly alienates them one-by-one, albeit silently.

Isn’t she saying if you don’t support ME than you are the problem? When did actors ever get to decide who is popular? Girl, take a hint.

[quote]I’ve lost any patience with her. Just admit that you are not a box office star and support someone else. Her mission is dwarfed by her ego and delusion.

She's very egotistical and doesn't have any gratitude for the successes she's had in her career. She can't accept that not everything she does is going to be a hit.

I listed to podcast called Funny in Failure and the host is an Australian guy Michael Kahan. Most of his guests are American comedy character actors. These are mostly C list average looking type people you see pop up in movies and TV shows all the time, but you don't always know or remember their names. I have noticed that in the podcast most of them aren't egotistical asswipes. Some of them admit that they aren't extremely attractive and don't always expect to get high profile roles or projects. One thing that podcast has taught me is that it's the C lister type actors who have humility unlike Viola is more well known than them.

R204 You are so annoying and wack. I think I'm starting to know you from other threads. You need some fucking friends.

[quote] Audiences Who Don’t See ‘The Woman King’ Are “Supporting The Narrative That Black Women Cannot Lead The Box Office Globally”

Don't let a giggle of bitter kkkweens discharge you from seeing this movie. And just because a movie "flops" at the box office doesn't mean it's not a bad film. One thing I'll give Davis credit for is that, while she still has the star capital, she gets to choose interesting roles

Viola is a good actor but she is not a "star". She cannot seem to come to terms with the fact that she should be focusing on character actor parts that could further her credibility and leave her with a fairly esteemed body of work. Instead, this nearly 60-year-old woman is trying to compete for the cultural currency of twentysomething Marvel/DC stars. I know she got famous later in life, but it is truly pathetic—what's even worse is her victimhood behavior whenever she doesn't get what she wants. She has absolutely no self-awareness, and I'm sure anyone in her team who even remotely challenges her on these things is met with absolute wrath. She is an entitled cunt and a charity case.

What Viola Davis wants more than anything is to be seen as top black bitch in Hollywood.

[quote] Finally, get off the fucking cross. No one hates white people.

So you either make her a box office star equal to Julia Roberts or you are racist.

Change the title to "the person king" or I call transphobioa.

She's a bit mouthy for a colored.

Billy Porter for the sequel - The Man Queen!!

^LOL.

Her arms look great for a nearly 60 y/o woman. I wonder what her work out was to get in shape for this.

Viola is a very good actress but i don't think she is the kind of actress that can carry a project like this. Being good actor and being a star are different things (in fact some stars are barely competent actors).

The movie has other problems because i don't think this has a massive appeal overseas which is a huge problem when we talk about an expenssive film

No one ever said that r216 you tool, except for the bitter Klan grannies on this board

World Of Reel is not impressed.

[quote] I called it, there is absolutely no enthusiasm for this film beyond critics. Sony thought the rousing ovations it garnered at TIFF last weekend would be enough to push this one forward and bank on the Best Picture and Best Actress buzz, but the problem is, and always was, that the buzz was artificially produced. No audience cared for “The Woman King” before TIFF and still no audience cares for it now.

Barbarian is a great little horror film with a compelling black female lead

[quote] No audience cared for “The Woman King” before TIFF and still no audience cares for it now.

Maybe they could rescue the film if they did some reshoots to add in a white savior type guy

The female 1/2 of the 13% can’t float a film that most of them don’t want to see either.

Someone is going:

Saturday AM Update: TriStar/eOne’s The Woman King is coming in higher than expected with a $18M opening boosted by lively word of mouth with an A+ CinemaScore and a massive 95% positive on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak. Friday, including $1.7M previews, came in at $6.8M.

As expected women are the majority at Woman King at 60% with 58% over 35 and 39% over 45, another promising sign for an older demographic that was reluctant to head out during the height of the pandemic. Black moviegoers turned out at 59%, with Caucasians at 19%, Latino and Hispanic at 12% and Asian/other at 10%. The Woman King saw its best business in the East and South where seven of the top ten runs came from. LA’s AMC Burbank and the Grove also ranked along with the Country Club in Chicago. PLF screens and Imax auditoriums are repping 43% of Woman King‘s weekend ticket sales at this point in time. Best markets were NY, Atlanta, DC, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Philly, Miami, Baltimore, Orlando, Detroit and Tampa.

Working title was ‘White Evil, Black Good or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Revise Our Part in the Slave Trade History to Fit the Current Narrative’

Rr26 what makes you think most black women don't want to see this film. I don't know if it's true but people or probably you multiple times on this spot keep spewing that. ANY STATS? Are you just being superficicial, one dimensional of your perception of AA women. I don't usually asks for sources, stats, info but you keep saying that as if it is gospel.

R226

Rr228. Thanks for posting. The bigots are shooketh. It's probably a bunch of elder theater queens who could never make it not even on soaps because they're too fucking femmy.

^Ooooo hooo hooo hooo, the LSA vipers have landed.

Will it flop?

Would the film be hated so much, on principle, if an unknown actress were the lead? I ask b/c many people don't like Viola Davis as a person.

Are some people upset b/c this film is depicting ugly facts or are they upset b/c this film makes some black ppl look better than they should?

F/Fs are not going to make your opposition disappear. Do you think it could? On this site? How naive!

R233 I think it's people who despise Viola Davis simply because she's too aggressive for their liking that anything she says just screams "angry, bitter, black quarterback." They scream that she "ain't a great actress" and think that any film she makes is somehow racially political. Their true vice is that their bigotry blinds them to anything positive about Viola or her films

[quote] it's people who despise Viola Davis simply because she's too aggressive for their liking that anything she says just screams "angry, bitter, black quarterback." They scream that she "ain't a great actress" and think that any film she makes is somehow racially political. Their true vice is that their bigotry blinds them to anything positive about Viola or her films

If you think that Viola is doing this for black people, then you're sadly mistaken.

Miss Thing is doing it all for herself, and her own glory and ego.

She is trying to guilt/shame people into seeing the movie because 1 - She'll make more money, 2 - It will increase her visibility and her celebrity status, and 3 - It's Oscar bait.

Viola is all for Viola.

This is really why everyone hates her.

Miss Thing? Hi klan granny r237

The biggest issue with the film is making it into a Black Saviour movie, when that’s not the case. Lying about history to feed the current rage towards whites.

Mizz Thang*

it would be terribly unwise to give this movie a bad review, otherwise you’d be subject to cancelling.

R241 = Viola, subtly threatening the Hollywood Press Corps.

The women all look very slimy. Too much pork grease on them.

[quote] The women all look very slimy. Too much pork grease on them.

To be fair, Viola had just finished eating lunch, and there were no napkins around.

R241 That won't work with foreign press.

I still remember when Selma was released here (after all the outrage for the lack of oscar nominations) and the reviews were all "Martin Luther King deserved a way better film"

R245 not to mention Ava Du Vernay rewrote history about LBJ's involvement in the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and historians and even Andrew Young (who was present for LBJ and MLK's discussions) called her out. She's an arrogant bitch.

She received an award at the Austin Film Festival. During her speech she mentioned she had several relatives from Texas present in the audience. She made fun of the name of the town they came from - New Braunfels. She basically insulted them, smirking the whole time. She could have shown some appreciation for her auntie and cousins who'd come a long way to honor her but no, she had to act like they were country bumpkins, not cool like her. A real bitch.

Production budget is $50 million. Some industry analysts indicate that with marketing & distribution & payments to exhibitors that the film will need to make about $100 million to break even.

[quote] Production budget is $50 million. Some industry analysts indicate that with marketing & distribution & payments to exhibitors that the film will need to make about $100 million to break even.

Go Woke, go broke.

The New Yorker (to my surprise) called this movie out where need be

I don't know if this is true or not, but someone told me that one of the warriors in this film screams Breonna Taylor's name in a post-credits scene. Talk about browbeating.

It’s a good start but it’s going to have to break out to other demographics in order to be a hit. Who knows what they spent on top of the $50M budget to promote it. Widows maxed out at around $42M.

Where did they find all those houseplants?

They really want to get a race war going. TPTB.

IF A list stars like Will Smith and Bruce Willis can make multiple million $$ flops Viola can have her Oscar prestige Mad Max film underperform; a film that's actually getting outstanding reviews. It will eventually make a profit.

^ Viola

R249 fascinating. Really interesting to get somebody knowledgeable about African history to explain who these people were and what they actually did. Hats off to Lupita for discovering the truth and refusing to act in the movie.

One of my friends, who is white, saw it:

"Phenomenal Movie… Loved it… Black excellence at its best… Viola did a phenomenal job and so did the cast… if you can view in 4DX please do, it is wild, to have your seats 💺 moving, getting sprayed with water, air and smoke effects was crazy as well"

I think some of you bickering hens need to chill the fuck out and stop stressing over box office. It looks to be a good movie. Most of you in this thread are so interested in this woman tanking, I truly beg to question why.

R149 This is a stupid justification of anti-black racism in the US but the funny part is white America are closer to Nigerians in ideology than Black Americans. Black Americans don’t want gays dead and women dying from abortions.

"Black excellence at its best"... yeah, I'm sure a white friend who isn't a Hollywood publicist said that. lol

if you can view in 4DX please do, it is wild, to have your seats 💺 moving, getting sprayed with water, air and smoke effects was crazy as well"

Seriously? Ew, no thanks. I prefer not to have any fetid water and toxic smoke sprayed on me.

Monkeypox spray?

Immersive!

R259 well, he has dated black guys in the past, it's not hard to believe he's an ally to black causes.

R260 Your such a bitch. It's a part of the attraction. I suspect a lot of the vitriol Viola receives is because she isn't stereotypically attractive.

She looks ridiculous. And that's always fatal.

She has reached her over-saturation point. This is the peak of her career, I think we won’t hear much about her once this turkey leaves theaters.

R256 lol Viola wasn't even first choice for this movie. She took Lupita's castoffs. Props to Lupita for realizing this was historically inaccurate and demonizing white people.

Who the hell goes to a theater to have water sprayed in your face? Please tell me that is a joke.

It's like John Waters' Odor-Ama, remember that?

R268, you cannot be serious. This isn't a typical showing of the film. It's 4D IMAX showings like attending something at Universal Studios. Even though I find her mad overrated, Viola cannot win with you cunts. I'm done here.

R267 But Lupita turned down this film because of scheduling conflicts. LOL. I have friends in the industry. Stop lying.

Viola looks like a man.

meanwhile , r260 has zero problems having dirty cum sprayed on her face and in her ass

It was hyped as being a huge film that would gross more than $20 million in its first weekend. Now it’s $18 million and they are still tying to hype it as a hit.

Why did they have to make her a king? Seems sexist to say that a powerful woman has to be a king instead of a queen.

ikr r275

R272: One ugly man.

R266: Please please please!!!

R219 Harry Styles gets it instead, so Billy can just scream and scream.

The only competition for Viola is Don’t Worry Darling next weekend, and Bros the weekend after that. But I doubt this movie will crossover. Even in press they said they hope people go to see it tomorrow after church.

[quote] Even in press they said they hope people go to see it tomorrow after church.

Sorry, we're busy.

R18 In what world is this a family film where grandparents and children would all go and enjoy themselves after church?

Don’t blame me, that is what Viola is telling people.

It hasn’t broken $7 million even at the box office. Not great for a big-budget studio flick. I’m sure we will be hearing from Vi very soon.

i thought some1 said it broke 18 mil upthread

[quote] i thought some1 said it broke 18 mil upthread

They meant $18,000.

R285 that was a projection. I’ll be surprised if it reaches that.

[quote]i thought some1 said it broke 18 mil upthread

Who is the annoying newbie who keeps posting numbers for words? Cut that shit out, fool, or you will be banned. This is your first warning.

enough with this slave shit!

Now this is how Box Office Mojo describes the film.

The Woman King (2022)

A historical epic that is 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 of The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Another name for alternate history is fiction. It cannot be historical anything if it's fiction. I miss the world where there used to be something called reality.

"Alternate history"

LOL

R291 you're an idiot. Was the Marie Antoinette film historically accurate? Was the Queen Elizabeth film historically accurate? Anything 100% historically faithful would be more of a documentary and even those don't tell the full story.

And r275 Catherine the Great was referred to in French as Catherine LE Grand, that is a male definite article active to a female... Over a century ago things were different. By designating a female leader as King it declares her to be just as equal as any man. You bitches are nitpicking right now and it's so sad and pathetic.

[quote] Was the Marie Antoinette film historically accurate? Was the Queen Elizabeth film historically accurate?

Has there ever been a Marie Antoinette film where she wasn't beheaded?

Was there ever a Queen Elizabeth movie where she didn't send pirates out to rob and kill people?

Artistic license and stylistic choices are on thing, but completely re-writing history is a different matter.

R293, I think you're arguing with bots. Does anyone else notices the number of posts this threads and threads like it get in the overnight hours? And how the negative talking points that you see in social media sync up to the negative talking points in this thread. This thread, the Little Mermaid thread, and others all follow a similar pattern. It's not all bots, there are just some legitimate VD haters and then there are always a few racists in the bunch.

There is an election coming up. Divide the people.

[quote]Miss Thing? Hi klan granny.

Is bitch better, R238?

Thread on LSA: Two white women wrote “The Woman King” will you still see it.

One brainiac replied, “Why? They always in our business”.

Why do you all care so much about what happens on Lipstick Alley?

R298 = Ms. Woke Finger Wagger

R295 is schizophrenic.

Yeah, the NYT article in 4 years. ‘The Viola Davis thread on a gay gossip site that lost Biden the presidency’

[quote] They always in our business

If only Capote was still around to reply to that

That's a pretty damning take in the New Yorker. It makes it clear that Lupita learned enough doing that documentary in Benin that she was openly having doubts about portraying these women soldiers as heroes.

I also have to say the excuse making for African slave sellers is a little dubious. How about acknowledging that all involved, except the slaves, profited from it; all involved, except the slaves, did inhumane things of varying degrees--and the whole thing sucked.

And it still does. Not only does a slave trade continue, I don't even know of any major attempts to stop it.

Yeah, think I'll skip it--FWIW, I hated those Elizabeth I movies with Cate Blanchett for being so insanely inaccurate as well--and I hate The Great--so I'll just wait for something better. It will probably be a while since ambiguity is out of fashion right now.

Has Viola Davis ever fairly acknowledged when she makes a bad career move? She's made some shitty films in her career. Did anyone ever see Gerard Butler's "Law-Abiding Citizen?" Who did she blame for that stinker?

R303 Law Abiding is a mind blowing thriller and Grade A popcorn flick.

It looks like wakanda the movie.

Isn't Black Panther already Wakanda the Movie, R305?

[quote]If there’s one title to celebrate this past month, it’s Sony’s The Woman King . The Viola Davis-starring, Gina Prince-Bythewood-directed, West Africa set historical epic opened in first place with an above-expectations $19 million

West Africa set historical epic 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦.

Alternate history seems to be the new thing.

Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page to star in Amazon Prime reboot of 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - set in an 'alternative America'

There were black cowboys. You just don't know about them because no one taught you about them.

R310 Several people taught me about them.

But unlike most of you wags, I actually grew up in the part of the country where cowboys - of all races - were active. I didn't have to learn about them from a podcast or a cute little photo essay in The New Yorker.

Allegedly grossed $19M, studios self-report, they probably pumped the numbers to bet the expectation

R312, I have never heard studios lie about opening week numbers. I have NEVER heard that before. NEVER.

R313 it happens

Because truly I have never heard of it nor accusations. It just seems like out of all the box office bombs that have occurred over the years studios would have chosen those times to cook the books. Can you please list the other examples. Thanks.

[quote] Allegedly grossed $19M, studios self-report, they probably pumped the numbers to bet the expectation

Overestimation certainly does happen, but rarely by any appreciable amount, certainly not enough for it to be le scandale!

$19m for a nearly 4000 screen release is nothing to crow about, even in post-pandemic box office times. Any other film of this size and scope of release would be considered a disappointment.

R310, Yep, there were Black cowboys (and Mexican and Hawaiian, etc.). However Butch Cassiday and the Sundance Kid were real people, both white.

I don't doubt that there are some excellent stories to be told about Black cowboys, but Hollywood, in its usual bankrupt way is going for a colorwashed remake instead of doing that.

Fuck, Hollywood made a bunch of Black/white buddy movies in the 80s and 90s--Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop, even Unforgiven--it was a thing, but they didn't have to do this dopey colorwashing to do it. They created new stories and new characters, came up with new jokes.

Either dig around in history or right something new, but this remake crap is just that--crap.

So many of the racist elderqueens said that this movie would be a mega flop. Now that it overperformed and became the number one movie in America, they're trying to spin it by saying the studios are inflating the numbers. "It's nothing to crow about."

Classic Datalounge.

I'm going to apologize, because I was this many days old when I learned that Butch and Sundance were real people. I Googled and it appears they are doing some kind of alternate universe Butch and Sundance, but if people want to be mad about that casting, that I can wrap my head around. It seems as though Hamilton opened the floodgates.

On another note, why start this mess that the studio cooked the numbers. Why can't you just not like VD and leave it at that.

It is pretty funny r319.. A+ cinemascore and stronger box office than predicted and some racist trolls can't handle that.

Probably the same troll who was saying house of dragon would bomb because it is "too woke"

It’s only a hit to the extent they say it is. Their estimated box office was rounded to whole numbers. Plus they haven’t disclosed how much they spent on P&A above the $50 million budget. Who else will go see it?

I guess the more important questions is, WHY do old white queens on here WANT this film to fail.

[quote] Now that it overperformed and became the number one movie in America, they're trying to spin it by saying the studios are inflating the numbers. "It's nothing to crow about."

Sweetie, it hardly overperformed. $19m for a nearly 4000 screen release with a likely $20m P&A spend is not an overperformance, however much the studio decided to lowball expectations after they saw tracking.

The way it works, for everyone screaming RACISM!, is tracking begins about a month before the release of a film. Tracking is surveying the awareness of and desire to see a particular film, how soon, which age and sex demographic, etc.

They figure out how to tweak marketing based on the early tracking. By the time tracking gets to the week of opening, the distributors can pretty much figure how much a film is expected to gross. (Now that number has nothing to do with what is reported, it's simply a projection.)

A long time ago, distributors learned that, to spin a film that was tracking poorly, they would send out a press release lowballing their expectation. If the film did better than that number, then they could act like it was something of a hit. It never worked because everyone now knows what a film of a certain budget and release size needs to gross its first week in order to have legs and/or make a profit. But the distributors keep on doing it.

Did the film gross $19m? Yes, as mentioned before, Sunday estimates can be off, but rarely-to-never an appreciable amount to make it seem like anyone is lying. Did the studio really think the film would not gross $19m? No. They knew this was not going to do any better, and not much worse.

Any way you look at it, the film is a disappointment in terms of what they spent. Maybe they were hoping for another Black Panther? I have no idea. Viola Davis is not a box office star, never has been, never will be. She cannot open a film on her own name. Sure, she's been in hits, but the draw has either been another actor or the existing IP (i.e. The Help). The subject matter also has a very limited appeal. I think once people realized this actually was NOT, in fact, another Black Panther superhero-type film, the air got let out of the balloon pretty quickly.

Bagging on sanctimonious Viola is fun for all ages,

R324 you seem overly invested in hating this movie. It's not that deep.

So, is this serious Oscar bait or not? It's opening on the early side for that, but by opening on a weekend where not much else is going on, it gets a bit of PR traction.

Honestly, with streaming being such a big part of things, I have no idea what kind of opening the film needs to turn a profit. This looks like it's in the realm of not-a-smash, but not-a-disaster. Pre-COVID, it would have been disappointing, but it's not pre-COVID.

I don't hate it at all R326, you're making assumptions to fit your narrative. I've only posted twice in this thread, and the 2nd time was to further explain how things work since no one wants to let facts interrupt the hue and cry of RACISM! It has nothing to do with racism at all, which was my point. But you keep turning things to fit your narrative.

[quote] Honestly, with streaming being such a big part of things, I have no idea what kind of opening the film needs to turn a profit. This looks like it's in the realm of not-a-smash, but not-a-disaster. Pre-COVID, it would have been disappointing, but it's not pre-COVID.

Well, money still has the same value post-Covid as it did pre, so nothing has really changed. If a movie costs $50m to make and $20m to market, opening at $19m isn't suddenly going to make it profitable just because Covid exists and fewer people are going to the movies. What a film grosses is less important than what it cost. But then, that's never really been in doubt any time.

I have no narrative R328. I'm not even going to see the movie, it's not my kind of movie. This thread is just weird.

R329, yeah, but you have films that do almost nothing in the US, aren't really expect to do anything in the US, but make bank overseas. You have foreign and US streaming rights, which also generate revenue.

I do know that films generally have to make twice their budget to be considered profitable, but I'm just not sure how this one will generate its revenues.

4,000 screens is a wide opening, which says to me that it's either considered a blockboster, which seems odd with Davis in the lead role in a non-franchise, or one that they expect to play a short time in between summer blockbusters and the October-December Oscar bait movies and are hoping to generate some quick revenues. Definitely not designed to be a sleeper hit.

Yes (and I'm just discussing, not arguing with you), but everything you've listed in your post was the same before Covid. Films have always been somewhat reliant on both international grosses and ancillary revenue to help them brake even. Covid hasn't changed that. (Also keep in mind that theatrical attendance is down worldwide, not just America, due to Covid). You specifically wondered what the gross post-Covid had to be to be profitable. It's pretty much the same.

R332, I get that and appreciate the conversation--I really am just trying to understand it. It does seem to me, reading your post and thinking it over that The Woman King isn't on its way to turn a profit unless it has a surprisingly good second weekend. $100 million seems like a big budget, given the lack of a big star and the appeal of the subject matter. Davis got fans in the seats for opening weekend, but I don't know how much bigger her fandom is. Feels like she's sort of in the Frances McDormand category--she's known, she's respected, but she's not box-office draw, per se.

Halle Berry ran so Viola can walk. This film will continue to grow and break 150 mil. And I want all you old queens to lick your wounds when this happens.

I would agree with you, R333. Now, had The Woman King been made for something like Netflix, where its primary function was as streamer bait with a cursory theatrical release for awards consideration, it would be a different conversation, but this film's release was very definitely a theatrical thrust, no matter how soon it shows up on streaming. Sort of in the same way Elvis was. Elvis came out in what, late June of this year, and two months (or so) later was on HBO Max streaming. But its release was geared theatrically and a large P&A push was made for box office gross. Elvis did well enough in the US and even better internationally, so I think after all is said and done it should at least break even. (I'm not sure what the actual budget was for Elvis- reported $85m- and I would estimate from the marketing push that the P&A spend was far more than for The Woman King, likely $40-$50m.)

Viola sure is raking up one flop after another.

Who doesn’t want to see a half naked sweaty Viola Davis? lol

She really is aggressively unattractive. Too bad Lupita has scruples.

They are hoping it grosses $60 million. No one is projecting $150 million.

If she is Black Meryl, is this her “The River Wild”?

R340, this project is way more ambitious than that. Perhaps her Out of Africa?

Isn’t it supposed to be her Braveheart?

I loved HTGAWM.....But Viola has become really insufferable...Go look at her recent interviews...."I am leading the way!!...I am redefining Hollywood!!...I am a role model for little fat girls!!".....Bitch...Give me a break....I also think she is BI---don't see her talking about THAT..

The reviews have been pretty amazing, which will drum up business. Women, especially, Black women will be a major part of the audiences. If word of mouth is good, it will do very well.

Viola will be nominated

Viola won't be nominated. This movie will be fully forgotten in a month.

Word of mouth is stellar for this movie. Near universal acclaim

R317 So called adult films have done poorly since COVID and September has been a wasteland in terms of boxoffice, so in that context, I don’t think the opening will be seen as a disappointment. Now, if it doesn’t have a good hold next weekend (and based on that A+ Cinemascore and lack of competition it really should), that would be the real disappointment.

Very high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. 94% (critics) and 99% (audience).

It’s being viewed as a box office success

Only on Datalounge is it viewed as a failure. These bitter elderqueens live in an alternate universe.

I would be ashamed to be so nasty and bitter

Rotten Tomatoes is garbage, it’s unbelievably woke.

I think the main problem is this film needs to do well on domestic box office because it's not going to profit abroad.

Black Panther was huge in the USA but it's success abroad was similar to other superhero films

How do superhero films do abroad?

R354 They generally do well. There are a lot of fans of Marvel everywhere.

Well, it won't be playing in Asia. They had to stick Brad Pitt's pic on the poster for 12 Years a Slave to try to sell it.

[quote] Well, it won't be playing in Asia.

With new Chinese dubbing it might become bigger than Star Wars

A Chinese filmmaker wanted by Malawi as part of an investigation into allegations of racism and child exploitation has been arrested.

Lu Ke was a Malawi resident when he was exposed by BBC Africa Eye, which reported he had used local children to film personalised greetings videos, some of which included racist content.

These videos can be bought for up to $70 (£55) on Chinese social media and internet platforms.

Lu Ke denied making derogatory videos.

He said he made his videos in order to spread Chinese culture to the local community.

In one of the videos seen by the BBC, 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕 - 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆 - "𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒚 𝑰𝑸 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒘", 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈.

While being secretly filmed by an undercover journalist posing as a potential buyer, Lu Ke admitted and then immediately denied having made the video.

Malawian police last week launched an investigation but were unable to arrest the Chinese filmmaker as he could not be found.

Fucking Christ, you dumbass trolls and your obsession with calling everything woke 352. At least learn a new word, you are so tired.

Viola’s dark, enraged and sweaty face is the stuff out of nightmares to Asians

You can kiss China’s market goodbye

R359, they love hip-hop and basketball, why not black hollywood?

STOP BEING RACIST!!!

R358 = very woke....and triggered.

R360 because brutish black women are looked at with horror by Asian cultures.

R357, although it seems like a stupid grade school joke, it's kind of funny admittedly

Take the L, Klan Grannies. You've twisted yourselves in oven and through your assholes to justify why you believe the movie failed: from the "painful" history of what the tribe did regarding slavery (as if you care), to Lupita dropping out; to Viola isn't sexy; to Viola is uppity; to Viola is angry; to Viola is a bitch; to Viola is a black bitch; to the studios we inflating the numbers; to woke is broke... You're just DYING to say the N word huh

Racist loon ^

I watched it and I liked it.

First time going to theater since Pandemic. Had to wipe popcorn and tissue off my seat. I guess return to normalcy means giving up cleaning.

Small spoilers:

As others have said selling captives to slavers is discussed. My guess is the alternative history comes from Viola Davis character being against it and them giving an option for kidnapped woman to join their army.

The green screen was very noticeable in some scenes.

R348, do you really think any critic has the balls to trash a black movie these days. Critics are getting death threats for that. Don’t be naive.

Absolutely not. ^

R367 watch it or they'll say you're a paid PR shill ... They haven't seen the movie yet but they know it's not good because "what critic will trash a black movie in this day and age?"

Nah, he’s just a white gay “progressive”, just like you are R370.

It’s really good. Great action scenes

I only spend my hard earned money watching movies with good looking people in it. Don’t care what race/color they are as long as they’re hot.

John Boyega is fine

Are there any dance numbers?

Twerking, as far as the eye can see r375

R375 Yes actually, there are a few celebratory dance numbers.

The Ubangi Stomp?

What is her accent like in the movie? (If any is attempted)

R367 Because forcing captives to join an army is somehow so much better than slavery? The U.S. fought a war over its sailors being impressed into the British Navy.

Not saying the film doesn't work as an action flick, but, wow, the revisionism is sketchy.

I kind of shrugged when it came out, but Hidden Figures keeps looking better and better.

R380 only likes feel good movies and living the Pollyanna life. Oh wait she only hates black actress Viola Davis because, well, you know already...

So reading comprehension isn't your thing, is it R381? I don't love Hidden Figures, but it has the virtue of being rooted into an actual bit of history instead of a revisionism that makes heroes out of slave traders. (And, man, the pretzel-twisted logic I've read in defense of that slavery is pretty mind-boggling as well).

Also, Viola Davis is fine, though I think she's gotten a bit mannered--her portrayal of Michelle Obama was really awkward. Not all of us have a strong reaction to her one way or another, though I'd rather watch Octavia Spencer or, back in their day, Angela Bassett and Alfre Woodard. I'd rank Viola over Halle, though.

Oh please r382 when Hidden Figures came out you petty pale bitches kept making fun of Taraji constantly adjusting her character's glasses as poor acting choices and not realistic, even though I do it all the time with my glasses. Then you came and said the movie was not historically accurate because the segregated toilet scene never happened. Blah blah blah. I remember it all on here when you cunts were nitpicking that movie, claiming Taraji was no great actress. Now you're doing the same to Viola.

TarajI P. Henson is overrated as well and a bit smug. But, she seems a tad more likable than Viola.

On what planet does Viola think she could ever be a box office star? She has to be out of her mind.

A+ Cinemascore. Cant buy that type of word of mouth. Top Gun 2 also had it I think. But years go by without a score like that.

Yt ppl are evil and owe the coloreds so much.

R383, Right because everyone with pale skin thinks absolutely alike. What are you doing here on a gay (mostly male) board, anyway? Scuttle back to LSA or some mom board.

Hidden figures was an historic movie, maybe they took som artistic changes but it was an historic film based on real facts. That's not the case of The woman king

R389, who cares? All that matters is that it entertains

Viola Davis has never entertained.

Viola is #2 this weekend . Her movie dropped -43% (adding $10-10.8M).

Box office is dropping like an anchor. This turkey will come in well below 50m.

Box Office Poison 2022: Viola Davis

Dropped like the pie that is Viola's face.

“Inspired by true events” hahaha

It might as well have been a Tarantino revisionist project

"The River Wild" sucked.

The River Wild had a WW gross of $94 million in 1994 dollars.

At Viola's age, I also had several films gross over $100 million.

Does she really tell people that she is me? Thanks for the laughs.

Bridges of Madison County did over $180M.

V is no M.

Come on, be fair, you can't really compare pre- and post-COVID box office.

I appreciate that the filmmakers were trying to do something a little different and pull from African history, they just went too far on the revisionism. African history is messy.

[quote]African history, they just went too far on the revisionism.

What do you mean?

Maybe I’ll pass.

I think the real story sounds much more interesting, and much more provocative, especially in today’s climate. It would have been a brave film to make.

R401, they set the story at a time when the women warriors of Dahomey were actively burning down villages and killing people to obtain slaves to sell in the Atlantic slave trade. Also, ironically, this was also at the point when the British had gone from being major traders to trying to stop the slave trade. (While the United States, in its half-assed way, had banned importing slaves, but, of course, was trading them within the country.)

In one of those weird ironies of history, the United States was one of the better places to end up--not because the system was anything, but cruel, but because the land was so fertile that no one starved and the colder climate meant fewer diseases. It also meant that the US was a small part of the Atlantic slave trade (single digits) since the slaves were more likely to survive and have children. The lion's share of the trade throughout its 400 years went to Brazil to the sugar plantations, where slaves died early and often--a slave picked up in 1820, when the film is set, is facing a grim fate and I don't think you can claim ignorance--after 300 years, there was some awareness of what laid on the other side of the Middle Passage.

[quote] Come on, be fair, you can't really compare pre- and post-COVID box office.

Top Gun: Maverick- $710m

Dr Strange/Multiverse- $411m

Jurassic World Dominion- $376m

The Batman- $369m

And so on and so on and so on- Even stuff like Uncharted grossed $148m and Where the Crawdads Sing grossed $89m (so far). Black Phone grossed nearly $90m even though it was known it would be on streaming in 45 days.

The Covid excuse is over. People are going to the movies again. They just aren't going to Viola Davis movies.

The anti Viola trolls are also the anti Megan trolls

R405 is right. The covid excuse is over.

If the movie had been released last year, then the covid excuse would have applied then.

Time to rent out some more theaters.

Isn't that Viola's everyday expression? Like she can smell her own cunt?

Someone dropped out of this film because of the revisionism?

Sounds like they did a good job getting people out for opening weekend but now people could care less. Viola has bad BO.

R405, Fair enough.

Who's going to see Where the Crawdads Sing? I just know that there's some controversy about the author, I've heard nothing about the movie.

Most of the audience who saw Where the Crawdads Sing were probably women who read the book. Reese Witherspoon was a producer on that film and I know she is hated on DL. But, she seems to have a good knack at knowing which books will work ok enough for film or TV miniseries adaptations. Witherspoon has enough sense to not always give herself roles in projects she produces.

Viola is getting into producing more and you know she's going to give herself roles which will flop like The First Lady.

Isn't the re-release of Avatar, which is one of the highest-grossing films of all time, making just as much as this film this weekend?

LMAO

Nevertheless, kudos to Riaan Visman and Jayme Lawson for giving the audience an all too brief Real Concubines of Dahomey moment. Riaan's character gave the audience a chuckle, probably for all of the wrong reasons.. Admittedly, I'm still confused as to if his character was a male concubine of King Ghezo.

World of Reel is still not impressed.

This tweet is so correct

I do not like Viola. I do love Julia Roberts like all Gen X Gays but what part that trailer do you need me to like? OMG

R412 I don't know about the controversy but the novel was a huge bestseller.

And i think Viola is a great actress but she is simply not a star and the movie doesn't seem destined to do well (and i'm not even talking about the controversies). This has zero chances of doing well in Europe or Asia

Does Julia Roberts play a slave in this or one of the Amazon warriors?

Variety is trying everything possible to pretend that The Woman King's 2nd weekend gross isn't sad. But then they're also pretending that Don't Worry Darling's $19m weekend gross is somehow phenomenal. I'm pretty sure Variety is either trying to pretend we're still in pandemic box office times or just straight up lying about the fact that there has been nothing worthwhile to bother to go see in cinemas for the past seven weeks. The box office since early August has been anemic. Not because people are afraid to go to the movies, there just is nothing luring them there.

They seem to be taking a “we should feel sorry for these films” approach rather than highlighting that they are disappointments. “Woman King” may not even gross $50 million, which is a huge disaster.

BREAKING: COVID surging again! We’ve been in a secret lockdown the last 2 weeks. People broke quarantine to see this phenomenal Black-led film, the numbers are astounding! When adjusted, it’s the highest opening of all time!

Gurrl please

Variety is trying to save its own skin. If the movie industry collapses, then Variety will likely go along with it. So they will lie and say $19m for a 4113 screen release with two months of a huge marketing spend is a success.

25 and a half years ago, Liar, Liar grossed $31m in its first weekend on under 3,000 screens and was considered a huge opening. So trying to spin this and The Woman King's equally anemic $19m gross on 1/3 more screens with a bigger marketing spend and with 25 years of ticket price inflation as any sort of a hit is pathetic.

R425 average ticket price was around $5 then, they claim it’s $9.16 now but that’s bullshit, most are $12-17+ plus the insane price of concessions. Going to the theater now is like getting hit by a band of gypsies.

Yeah, but you don't have to buy concessions. I almost never do. I think the last time I did was when I went to see Angels in America (the NT broadcasts) in the cinema because they were both so long, I knew I'd never make it through without some water.

she will alwys be duck lipped mrs obama, ruining the part and her reputation with that disrespectful impersonation of a great lady.....sad.

With my sexy and shapely legs, The Woman King will leg out to $100 million. Get it? With delusion, Viola

They're only pretending it's not a bomb because they're scared to death of getting snot-ragged by Violent Davis.

Seriously, the woman has two moods: Waterworks Woman and Ball-Busting Broad.

Wasn’t Dahomey the Clown a character on IN LIVING COLOR?

Did African women of that time really wear shorts?

Avatar only grossed $1m less than The Woman King despite the fact that it's a 13 yr old movie and it's also on fewer than half the screens as TWK. Avatar also beat Don't Worry, Darling in per screen average. It's too bad they didn't have a little more faith in it and release it a bit wider, it would have easily beat them both.

The Woman King will top out at about $55m. I'm sure Variety will figure out how to spin that into a monster hit.

I'm sure they will say "word of mouth will continue to spread giving The Woman King legs".

Roll eyes.

All of you princing nannies, let's see Neil Patrick Harris star in a gay themed movie for the big screen and then see your excuses when it fails

Wut cunt? ^

[quote] All of you princing nannies, let's see Neil Patrick Harris star in a gay themed movie for the big screen and then see your excuses when it fails

Hey, are you paying attention? That exact situation is happening this week with the premiere of the gay-themed studio film, Bros. Some speculate that if Bros fails to attract enough viewers, that may end production of mainstream gay movies for a long time. So basically the situation that Viola is in is happening again this week to the gays. We get how important this is and how disastrous it is when those movies fail to attract enough eyeballs.

DL never misses an opportunity to eviscerate and incinerate NPH.

Just because Viola or Billy Eichner make a movie doesn’t mean people want to see it. They both are homely and annoying.

She's too short for that gesture.

[quote] Just because Viola or Billy Eichner make a movie doesn’t mean people want to see it. They both are homely and annoying.

This. Neither of them is a movie star to me. They don't make me want to go to the cinema.

Having said that, Viola can be a strong dramatic actress.

Yeah well r437 the difference is there are many praying on here for this not to work for the blacks since they have attacked every major black actress over ridiculous nonsense. They would be screaming "HOMOPHOBIA" when it happens to them

I must be part of the target audience because I watched it after church on Sunday.

My wife and I were the only ones in the theater.

Yeah, it’s an alternative history universe, but so was Braveheart and I’m not particularly bent out of shape in either case that they misrepresent what actually was in favor of a fantasy aspirational swords and sandals tear jerker. They seem to have skimped on the cinematography though and that’s more of an issue.

But seriously, none of you are going to comment on the lesbian relationship at the heart of the movie???? That’s got to be somewhat remarkable.

Seems awfully unladylike.

Thank you ElderLez for seeing my movie. We sure needed that $25 to help us reach $150 million. Sadly, Viola

Viola Davis kills September. (And not in a good way.)

I wonder if she's one of those people who goes nutso behind closed doors when things don't go her way. I wouldn't be surprised if her adopted daughter spills a lot of tea in 20 years or so.

R447 I imagine this to be the case based on the way she conducts herself publicly.

Did they show mutual pussy munching?

World Of Reel continues to be unimpressed.

It was pretty obvious that foreign critics were going to trash this

Still creaking towards recovering its $50 million cost.

old duck lips viola......

[quote] Still creaking towards recovering its $50 million cost.

That's great that it may recover the $50 millions original production cost. But to repeat something upthread, there is still another $50 million dollars of more cost attributable to marketing, distribution, and payments to theater owners for showing the film. Break even may be around $100 million in box office receipts.

I always thought you had to make 3x the budget just to break even.

AFTER her michelle obama debaucle, she is a fukn joke forever.

The Dahomey would force their conquered into slavery by convincing them that the victims were cursed. This involved a Dahomey tree ceremony, where the Dahomey had their new slaves and captured peoples repeatedly circle a tree, telling them that they were cursed, and therefore captured, and therefore enslaved.

If anything with the ritual went even slightly awry, the Dahomeys just executed them on the spot, and had magicians drink their blood until the bodies were dry.

It is indeed unreal the bich is hawking beauty products !!! wtf ??

R454, most movies have already made a profit before release. There are cable and foreign broadcast contracts, merchandizing, etc.

The Woman King even beat Bros

Weekly snark from World Of Reel (who still are unimpressed).

Doesn’t a $50 million gross mean the studio gets $25 million? Seems like a bunch of hype.

R457 and... ? In America up into the 20th century, innocent black males would be lynched and the white mob would make a literal family picnic of it. Advertised in the local papers detailing the venue and time, entire families would gather with eats and drink and make a fête while some poor black man was tortured before being hanged or engulfed in flames.

Please save your moral condescension, as your ancestors treated people like cattle and subjugated their children and future generations to unspeakable horrors.

R463, Those families aren't being made into heroes of a film in 2022. Your whataboutism has some serious issues.

I still think the main problem this movie has is that is not going to do well foreign, so it needs to recover in the USA to make profit

It’s looking like the horror film Smile with no established stars will outgross The Woman King.

R464 oh please. Films like Gone With The Wind romanticized the South with smiling slaves being all cute by "outsmarting" their massas, all while looking perfectly content in that degrading system. I'm not saying you'll get a film like that today but I find it laughable that you're bringing up the atrocities by this obscure African tribe as a reason why you hate this movie, yet I'm sure you'll have a viewing party for GWTW sometime soon, right?

Gone with the wind is a 1939 film based on a 1936 novel

R468 so you agree it is a fictionalized dramatization of an historical atrocity?

Damn, r461 - that article seemed more like a DLer writing about Bros and Billy Eichner!

R467, Nope. No one would make Gone with the Wind today precisely because of its sympathetic portrayal of slavery and slave-owners. It's problematic--and so is romanticizing the slave trade in The Woman King.

Both can be wrong--but one is an 80-year-old film and the other came out a couple of weeks ago. Like I said, your what-aboutism has issues.

If you need to reach back to an 80-year-old movie to make excuses for a 2022 movie, the 2022 film has big issues. That you had to imagine some EST about my viewing habits to justify your fondness for a bit of revolting historical revisionism says you can't defend the film on its merits.

R469 What i'm saying it's that you need to put things on context. It's obvious that the vision of slavery of Gone with the wind would be very different if the film (or the novel) were made today

I will play Scarlett in the remake!!

And I will play Mammy!

So all the reviewers are jerking off over it, but the film is a financial flop. Sorry, stans, making back your "budget" doesn't get you near breaking even.

We are halfway to $150 million, because $50 million is almost $75million! Thank you sweetie Jesus! Viola

R475 you sad thing. I'm actually impressed with its performance, given that people like YOU and the rest of white America has been actively pushing AGAINST it, on some fake moral standing of "how dare they make a movie romanticizing this horrible tribe!" ... or petty superficiality like "Voilà is not attractive."

Just gonna drop this piece of info here

Sure, when WE sell blacks as slaves, we're racist!

Cant watch that woman in a damn thing after she gave michelle the DUCK LIPS TREATMENT.

She will never live down the fat lip/lisping she did as M Obama......humiliating. HALL OF FAME RAZZIE

Still going for that $150 million! Almost there. V

Money can buy her stuff....but not respect.

She definitely lost money on The Woman King.

Viola is going to spin this as a box office success no matter what the actual outcome is.

R485 Yes, it will be the fault of racists that the movie didn't do well.

ha, right !!!!! she uppity!

But it's also a great way of saying we don't care that you think your crappy movie is an important contribution to society which must be seen. It's still a crappy movie.

15 days in release Bros crawls into its 3rd week with a total gross of $10.2M

click for BO Mojo⬇️⬇️⬇️

I think it's a clear mistake trying to shame viewers, if you don't watch this you are racist or you are homophobic. No, maybe you are simply not interested.

And the reviews are not reliable. If you do a job about "a very important theme" critics have a tendency of avoiding all the problems to praise the theme.

I didn't watch The woman king (or Bros) so i don't know if they are good or bad, but i read Such a fun age and the novel is utter rubbish with pedestrian writing and cartoonish characters but almost all the reviews avoid the obvious flaws to praise the theme (i recognize that it's a good idea to talk about racism in a not dramatic context)

Woman king sux bad, half audience walked out early. for dummies only.

The main problem is how expensive it was. Bros is a faliure but if it does well (or at least not bad) internationally it could not be a disaster. The woman king has very little posibilities of avoid it

Old Pucker lips Davis.

[quote] Bros is a faliure but if it does well (or at least not bad) internationally it could not be a disaster.

Comedies don't usually do well internationally (at least not at the level where it turns a flop into a hit). Gay comedies don't do anything.

(^.^) and Bros won't be shown in China which is a large market.

Well, i doubt the woman king will do anything in China neither

she cant get good roles no more after her shitty obama mrs movie

her 'inclusive' moment is up.

Oh, she'll continue to work. She is skilled and she is connected and it doesn't sound like she's difficult to work with. But she won't be greenlighting movies--no surprise, very few people can do so and the majority of them are men.

Viola has a part as a villain in the new Hunger Games franchise, and is playing the mom in Ben Affleck’s Nike movie. Not bad for a supporting actress.

R499 She's already got playing a slaver down.

This movie was very good. It fell into moments where it felt like a educational reenactment a la History Channel. It also felt like there was something missing about the narrative. It felt scattered between the conflicts between the different tribes, between the slavers, within the court, and between Viola and her pupil. Even though Viola Davis can be a bit victimish and insufferable, her performance in this role was the performance of a lifetime. I would be shocked if she didn't get nominated for Best Actress. Just so powerful, I cried twice watching her in different scenes. They are definitely charitable in their portrayal of the Dahomey (the name feels like a parody). I looked it up and they continued to sell slaves up till the 1890s --- seven decades after the movie. Also they ritually murdered half of their captives in a human sacrifice ritual, while sending the other half to the traders. And the reason why they started training female warriors wasn't because they revered women so much, it was because almost all the men were dead from wars. No, I don't think the Europeans were in the right here, but I think it's silly to pretend the Africans weren't equally culpable and brutal at that time --- or even more so. I really enjoyed the movie still. I would pair it in a double feature with The Northman. Both action packed, both highlight the dog eat dog nature of the human experience.

I WILL ONLY EVER SEE HER as mrs obama with the pucker lips routine she did.......fool of a performance. omg.

that old duck lipped thing?

Well, Ma Rainey was an action figure in her own way!

No Oscar Nomination... you can't handle a strong black woman!!!

R505 nah bitch ya just ain't good enough

r506 how dare you, I have been called the black Meryl Streep

"Viola Davis IS The Woman King Slaver!"

There, I fixed it for you.

R507 overrated!

I'm The Man Queen!

tired o lookin at her, she in too many films...yuk