ANANT Singh’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom has trumped Leon Schuster’s Schuks! You Country Needs You by almost R800000 in opening weekend receipts.
The Mandela movie made just over R4.4-million, Schuks R3.6-million.
It also reportedly beat opening weekend box office figures of some of the biggest releases this year, including Hunger Games – Catching Fire, World War Z, The Wolverine and Hangover 3.
Of course it helps when the cast list boasts names like Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto and Tony Kgoroge.
It’s impossible to tell whether the 24-hour box office headstart (Long Walk was released on November 28 while Schuks came out a day later) made the difference but Schuster said he was unperturbed by comparisons because the two were made for different audiences.
After the performance of some of his movies including Mr Bones, Mad Buddies and Schuks Tshabalala's Survival Guide to South Africa, Schuster said he was very happy .
“But it’s the second week that counts. If word-of-mouth is there and positive, then we will do well – I pray the people go and watch it.”
Nu Metro marketing head Mark Harris told Beeld he expected Long Walk (which was released in the US on the same weekend) to last longer on the circuit.
Last month, when Long Walk English director Justin Chadwick found out his film was opening on the same weekend as Schuster’s, he gasped: “Oh my God – we’ve no chance.”
Schuster added yesterday: “I don’t want to compete with Long Walk to Freedom – it’s not comedy, it’s a drama. I watched it, and I enjoyed it and I hope they do good business, which they already are.”
Singh was quoted as saying in a press release yesterday: “I am extremely pleased with the audience reaction. I visited a few cinemas over the weekend and experienced the emotional response to the film with audiences leaving the cinemas completely satisfied.
“For me as a filmmaker, this is really fulfilling.”
During a special screening in East London before its official release, Xhosa king Zwelonke Sigcawu commended the production team and actors for telling the story of a legend.
Mandela movie leaps ahead of new Schuks!
The Mandela movie made just over R4.4-million, Schuks R3.6-million.
It also reportedly beat opening weekend box office figures of some of the biggest releases this year, including Hunger Games – Catching Fire, World War Z, The Wolverine and Hangover 3.
Of course it helps when the cast list boasts names like Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto and Tony Kgoroge.
It’s impossible to tell whether the 24-hour box office headstart (Long Walk was released on November 28 while Schuks came out a day later) made the difference but Schuster said he was unperturbed by comparisons because the two were made for different audiences.
After the performance of some of his movies including Mr Bones, Mad Buddies and Schuks Tshabalala's Survival Guide to South Africa, Schuster said he was very happy .
“But it’s the second week that counts. If word-of-mouth is there and positive, then we will do well – I pray the people go and watch it.”
Nu Metro marketing head Mark Harris told Beeld he expected Long Walk (which was released in the US on the same weekend) to last longer on the circuit.
Last month, when Long Walk English director Justin Chadwick found out his film was opening on the same weekend as Schuster’s, he gasped: “Oh my God – we’ve no chance.”
Schuster added yesterday: “I don’t want to compete with Long Walk to Freedom – it’s not comedy, it’s a drama. I watched it, and I enjoyed it and I hope they do good business, which they already are.”
Singh was quoted as saying in a press release yesterday: “I am extremely pleased with the audience reaction. I visited a few cinemas over the weekend and experienced the emotional response to the film with audiences leaving the cinemas completely satisfied.
“For me as a filmmaker, this is really fulfilling.”
During a special screening in East London before its official release, Xhosa king Zwelonke Sigcawu commended the production team and actors for telling the story of a legend.
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