An up and coming filmmaker cannot help but marvel at the feat recently accomplished by director Malcolm Lee as his The Best Man Holiday opened to packed theaters across the nation, nearly delivering what would have easily been considered a cinematic upset of Buster Douglas vs. Iron Mike Tyson proportions. Friday, The Best Man slightly beat Thor: The Dark World in ticket sales.
By Saturday, they were neck and neck. But by the weekend’s end, Thor had won racking up $38.5 Million and outsprinting The Best Man Holiday’s amazing $30.6 Million opening. Still, The Best Man‘s ensemble cast featuring Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, Melissa De Sousa, Regina Hall, Monica Calhoun, Harold Perrineau, and Morris Chestnut is getting rave A+ reviews for the script and collective performances.
And what’s knocking the big Hollywood studio executives off their feet is the fact that people turned out in droves to see a film that features black stars who weren’t dressed in drag, shameless clowns or whose subject matter did not feature black subjugation or servitude. The numbers don’t lie. Although “The Best Man Holiday” came in behind “Thor: The Dark World” with a $30 million weekend, the film cost $17 million to make. One can clearly consider it a victory not only for Lee, but for the future of meticulously-crafted African American cinema as well.
CHECK THE SHADOW LEAGUE’S FULL STORY AND EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH THE CAST: SCREEN TIME: The Best Man Holiday
