9 Major Black Movie And TV Let Downs of 2012
1. The announcement that Pooch Hall and Tia Mowry would leave The Game
Fans took a major hit when it was announced the two pillar characters were leaving the show. It has since been announced that Pooch Hall is returning, so fans may wind up happy with the upcoming season.
2. Red Tails fails to make a profit
George Lucas produced the film and put in $100 million of his own money in an effort to prove Black films can be box office hits. The film sadly only made $50 million . Since this flop, Lucas has sold his film production company Lucas Film and the Star Wars franchise to Disney. Was this failure the last straw that led to him giving up the film world entirely?
3. Cloud Atlas box office earnings pale to budget
This film starring Halle Berry and Tom Hanks had a reported budget of $100 million. Now at the end of its theatrical release it has only managed to earn $65 million – a sizable loss.
4. Won’t Back Down sets worst box office opening ever record
Won’t Back Down had the worst opening weekend results ever of a movie that opened in 2,500+ theaters. It earned $2.6 million – that’s about $1,000 per theater. The movie featured Viola Davis who gave a dazzling performance. Unfortunately a combination of poor promotion, and hard to market subject material led to earnings of only $5 million. This film cost $25 million to make.
5. No Black actors nominated for Django Unchained at Golden Globes
It was announced that Django Unchained earned 5 nominations for the Golden Globes before the film was released to the public. After extensive media promotions (magazine covers, photo shoots, television interviews) focusing on Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx, it was a surprise to learn that both were passed up for nominations. Samuel L. Jackson also got overlooked for his supporting role, while co-stars Leonardo Di Carpio and Christoph Waltz both got supporting actor nominations. Since the film has come out we realize Washington’s role was minor, but it is a shame Foxx’s performance got no recognition.
6. Michonne’s Walking Dead TV character leaves fans wanting
After T-Dawg got relegated to token status somewhere in season 2, Black fans were looking forward to the strong Black female making her debut. Michonne turned out to be another disappointing Black character showing no emotional range, and appearing nearly subhuman with her disdainful demeanor, lack of speech, and missing connections to other characters.
7. Michael Ealy’s Common Law cancelled after 1st season
Funny Black/White cop partner teams are historically a recipe for success. This looked like Michael Ealy’s chance to really breakout as a star actor. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after its first season aired on the USA network due to low ratings.
8. Tracee Ellis Ross Leaves Reed Between the Lines
Tracee Ellis Ross left Reed Between the Lines to work on another show. This left the show writers with a challenge since the marriage had been very happy the first season and they had to explain the couple’s separation to viewers. Moreover, the NBC pilot Ellis Ross left Reed for did not get picked up from the network, leaving her out of work.
9. From the Rough release postponed indefinitely
This Independent sports drama was pushed back from scheduled theatrical release slated in Fall 2011 to Spring 2012. In 2012 was announced that the film’s release was being deferred indefinitely due to disagreements over distribution. It stars Taraji P. Henson, Michael Clark Duncan, Letoya Luckett, and a number of international stars including Tom Felton and Justin Chow. Henson plays real life golf coach Catana Starks who recruits an HBCU’s first Golf team. The film is fully completed, however all that we have is the trailer. Check it out bellow.
