As it turns out, alienating the vast majority of paying customers isn’t a good business strategy.
Who could’ve guessed?
Well, not the filmmakers behind “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” apparently.
The film, which generated a decent amount of social media buzz and news coverage for its racially-charged plot (the story features a secret society of black Americans dedicated to appeasing white people in an effort to make them less “dangerous”), just ended its theatrical run after only 21 days.
For perspective, the average theatrical window for a movie released between January and April is around 30 days — with virtually all successful films extending their runtimes far beyond that window.
But “The American Society of Magical Negroes” was far from successful. In fact, by every measure, it was an utter disaster.
Financial Losses
Though an official budget for the film has yet to be released, multiple unconfirmed reports — including this story from film critic Jordan Ruimy — estimate the budget to have been around $15 to $20 million.
According to Box Office Mojo, the film only brought in $2.48 million at the worldwide box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, the