Dec. 06--Though it came in No. 13 overall on opening weekend according to Box Office Mojo, Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" did considerably better in Chicago.
The film, which is a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek comedy "Lysistrata," opened in a total of 305 theaters nationwide but reportedly did its biggest business in Chicago, where the film is set and was shot, according to The Wrap.
The Wrap spoke with Bob Berney, head of marketing and distribution for Amazon Studios, who said that: "In Chicago, we estimate a $15,000-plus per-screen average on 22 screens" -- compared with $3,900 per-screen average in other cities -- "and in the majority of our 305 theaters we're one of the top three grossing films."
With its focus on an effort to stop gun violence on Chicago's South Side and a title that proved to be controversial (despite having been around for a couple of years now), the film stirred up plenty of strong emotions long before its release, much of it based on speculation or incomplete information.
Tribune film critic Michael Phillips expanded upon that in his review, a mixed assessment of the movie:
Touchy Chicagoans with various agendas have been wary of Lee's movie for months, before, during and after last summer's filming. They're wary of any movie that treats these subjects as a source of any sort of satire, dark or light, purposeful or frivolous.
To its credit, "Chi-Raq" traffics in all those sorts of comedy. People forget just how wonderfully unpredictable Lee's work can be, "Do the Right Thing" on the high end, "School Daze" in the middle, and satires such as "Bamboozled" lower down. If "Chi-Raq" disarms even a small percentage of those who see it, and provokes any reflection about a gun culture, the uses of satire and the plight of a sadly emblematic city, it was worth the effort. However mixed-up the results.
Last week, Lee himself expressed a certain amount of relief that audiences would be able to judge for themselves: "FINALLY," he wrote on Twitter. "Make Up Ya Own Damn Mind. CHI-RAQ Opens Nationwide In Theatres."
Amazon has not yet announced when the film will be available via its streaming platform.
nmetz@tribpub.com
