Hollywood is now well known for its reputation for blacklisting actors and directors who don’t subscribe to the extreme leftist utopian world view.
But some stars have braved the storm and voiced alternative opinions, including Clint Eastwood.
And now Eastwood is scoring major revenge against those who punished him for his brand of politics.
Warner Bros. stabs Clint Eastwood in the back
Juror #2 was released on November 1, and is running in theaters now.
Well, at least a few theaters.
The suspense-thriller is expected to be Clint Eastwood’s final film – though, there are rumors rumbling throughout Hollywood that he’s eyeballing future projects.
One would think a Tinseltown icon like Eastwood’s farewell project – not to mention one with such an all-star cast, including Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland, and J.K. Simmons – would be met with massive fanfare from the studio.
Especially a studio like Warner Bros. Pictures – a distribution studio that Eastwood has enriched for decades with blockbusters and some of the most memorable movies of all time, like American Sniper, Gran Torino, and Unforgiven.
But instead, Warner Bros. appears to have zero interest in supporting Juror #2 and its reported $34 million budget.
Commercials and other advertising for the flick were virtually non-existent ahead of the release and remain so today.
Clint Eastwood’s final film ‘JUROR #2’ will only be released in less than 50 theaters for its entire run with no wider release planned.
Warner Bros will also not reveal any box office numbers for the film.
(Source: https://t.co/Hwe0Wp5Az6) pic.twitter.com/kzOasT34xQ
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 24, 2024
In fact, as Hollywood in Toto originally reported, Eastwood even had to turn to People magazine to post the trailer for the movie, before Warner Bros. was pressured to add it to its own channel.
And worst of all, Warner Bros. is only distributing Juror #2 to less than 50 screens nationwide – with no existing plans for an expansion, and Variety even reported the original plan was to release the film directly to the Max streaming service.
Clint Eastwood vs. David Zaslav
Why is Warner Bros. stabbing one of its biggest stars in the back on what could be his swan song?
Hollywood in Toto editor Christian Toto speculates it could be retaliation for Eastwood’s right-of-center political leanings.
In an article headlined, “Why Hollywood liberals are punishing Clint Eastwood for his politics,” even the radically Left, The Telegraph, believes Warner Bros. is playing an unfair game of politics.
The Telegraph suggests, perhaps, new Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav wasn’t a fan of Eastwood’s 2012 Republican National Convention speech criticizing then-President Barack Obama.
“In a town where to be a Democrat is practically de rigueur, Eastwood’s liberal Republicanism – he has described himself as a social liberal and a fiscal conservative – has marked him out as somehow problematic,” the article reads.
But as is his way, Eastwood is telling Warner Brothers to “go ahead, make my day.”
Clint Eastwood is feeling lucky
Despite only being released in a few dozen theaters, Eastwood fans are going out of their way and traveling to enjoy Juror #2.
Deadline is reporting Eastwood’s latest movie hauled in $260,000 and $275,000 over its three-day debut weekend.
“I just liked it,… It’s one of the better stories that’s come along”
Excerpts from one of Clint’s recent interviews for new film Juror #2 at Warner Bros…. pic.twitter.com/YnRYe1g1Uf— Clint Eastwood (@EastwoodMalpaso) September 27, 2024
And those numbers are from only 35 reporting theaters.
That gives the film an average of about $7,500 per screen.
“To compare, the opening weekend per-screen average for Venom: The Last Dance, which cost more than three-times Juror #2‘s roughly $35 million budget, was only $12,348,” Screenrant reported. “While the comparably budgeted Smile 2 has a per-screen average of $6,361.”
Juror #2 is killing it with audiences and critics alike – one of the rare movies these days to connect the two.
Critics have given Eastwood’s film a staggering 92% fresh rating, while the audience’s popcorn score is even better at 93%.
