Looks like we picked the wrong week to give up our crystal ball. Who could have predicted that Clint Eastwood’s feature film SULLY, in wide release on American and Australian screens for nearly a month, would break box office records? The film of Chesley Sullenberger’s dramatic landing of a jet airliner on New York’s Hudson River, had a strong opening weekend in September when it grossed US$35 million in the United States. It has made AU$10.9 million in Australia since release.
Even given this excellent start, the movie wasn’t projected to take more than US$100 million domestically and US$150 million worldwide. These are big numbers for a flick about a well known event from 2009, with a hero in his late fifties and no action to speak of. Star Tom Hanks hasn’t had a bona fide box office hit (where he wasn’t voicing Pixar’s Woody) since the DA VINCI CODE in 2006. The last Eastwood directed picture this successful, was GRAN TORINO (2008). Their first collaboration came at the right time for Hanks and Eastwood.
Maybe other well-directed, well acted dramas for adults will follow in SULLY’s wake? Surely, we can’t be serious…
