Newsbites: Borat! Passion! Abu Ghraib!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's another quick batch.1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan topped the box office with revenues of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/11\/newsbites-borat-passion-abu-ghraib.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newsbites: Borat! Passion! Abu Ghraib!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's another quick batch.1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan topped the box office with revenues of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/11\/newsbites-borat-passion-abu-ghraib.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-11-05T23:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. 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{"id":1934,"date":"2006-11-05T23:20:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-05T23:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/11\/newsbites-borat-passion-abu-ghraib\/"},"modified":"2006-11-05T23:20:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-05T23:20:00","slug":"newsbites-borat-passion-abu-ghraib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/11\/newsbites-borat-passion-abu-ghraib.html","title":{"rendered":"Newsbites: Borat! Passion! Abu Ghraib!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Here\u2019s another quick batch.<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/a> Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan<\/a><\/i> topped the box office with revenues of $26.4 million this weekend<\/a>, despite opening in only 837 theatres. The last film to be #1 with less than 2,000 screens was Tyler Perry\u2019s Diary of a Mad Black Woman<\/a><\/i>, which opened February 25, 2005<\/a> on 1,483 screens and grossed $21.9 million for the weekend. And the last film to be #1 with less than 1,000 screens was Michael Moore\u2019s Fahrenheit 9\/11<\/a><\/i>, which opened June 25, 2004<\/a> on 868 screens and grossed $24.1 million for the weekend. Borat<\/i> opened on slightly less screens and made slightly more money. And FWIW, I\u2019ve checked back as far as January 2000 and can\u2019t find another movie that was #1 with less than 1,000 screens.<\/p>\n

NOV 6 UPDATE: After numbly clicking on the \u201clast weekend\u201d button at BoxOfficeMojo.com for several minutes, I finally found another film that was #1 with less than 1,000 screens: Four Weddings and a Funeral<\/i> rose to the top in its sixth week April 15, 1994<\/a>, and grossed $4.2 million on 721 screens. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to The Hand that Rocks the Cradle<\/i>, which opened January 10, 1992<\/a> on 766 screens and grossed $7.7 million for the weekend. And prior to that, Cape Fear<\/i> opened November 15, 1991<\/a> on 924 screens and grossed $10.3 million for the weekend. And prior to that, Dead Again<\/i> was #1 in its second<\/a> and third<\/a> weeks in September 1991 on over 700 screens. And prior to that, Driving Miss Daisy<\/i> was #1 in its seventh<\/a> and eighth<\/a> weeks in January and February 1990 on 895 screens.<\/p>\n

2.<\/a> DavisDVD<\/a> reports that a two-disc \u201cdefinitive edition\u201d of The Passion of the Christ<\/a><\/i> may be coming out in February. No word yet on whether this will include the original theatrical version of the film, the Recut<\/a><\/i> version, and\/or some new version. Two years ago<\/a>, Fr. William J. Fulco said Mel Gibson was preparing a DVD with 15 hours<\/i> of bonus material, so it will be interesting to see just how much of that material ends up on the new disc; and it will also be interesting to see whether Gibson\u2019s recent quest<\/a> for forgiveness from the Jewish community<\/a> will be reflected on this disc.<\/p>\n

3.<\/a> The Hollywood Reporter<\/i>, via Reuters<\/a>, says Errol Morris<\/a> \u201cis developing a documentary about the Abu Ghraib<\/a> prison scandal in Iraq.\u201d Not sure how that particular, and rather serious, choice of topic will fit with Morris\u2019s usual quirky style, but we shall see.<\/p>\n

4.<\/a> On a somewhat related note, Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Christopher McQuarrie, co-writer of The Usual Suspects<\/i> (1995) and director of The Way of the Gun<\/i> (2000), will start filming Stanford Prison Experiment<\/i> in April. It seems this film will be a more-or-less historical account of the experiment, rathen than a work of fiction like Oliver Hirschbiegel\u2019s Das Experiment<\/a><\/i> (2001), which is currently being developed into an English-language remake.<\/p>\n

5.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Thai officials are asking the makers of Rambo IV: In the Serpent\u2019s Eye<\/a><\/i> to keep the violence \u201creasonable\u201d. Good luck, guys! In related news, Variety<\/a><\/i> also has an item on the promotional efforts surrounding the upcoming Rocky Balboa<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

6.<\/a> The New York Times<\/a><\/i> probes the religious backgrounds and spiritual reawakenings of the Hollywood players behind The Nativity Story<\/a><\/i>, which comes out in four weeks, on December 1.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"