Synopsis
In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley, Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other’s political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult—cementing their opposing political positions. Their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News’ ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born.
Metrics
Movie Details
| Production Budget: | $750,000 |
| United Kingdom Releases: |
July 24th, 2015 (Wide), released as Best Of Enemies |
| MPAA Rating: |
R for some sexual content/nudity and language.
(Rating bulletin 2378, 6/17/2015) |
| Running Time: |
87 minutes |
| Keywords: |
TV Industry, News, Political, Writing and Writers, Professional Rivalry, Voiceover/Narration, LGBTQ+, Sundance Film Festival 2015 |
| Source: | Based on Real Life Events |
| Genre: | Documentary |
| Production Method: | Live Action |
| Creative Type: | Factual |
| Production/Financing Companies: |
Tremolo Productions, Media Ranch Productions, Motto Pictures, ITVS |
| Production Countries: |
United States |
| Languages: |
English |
November 25th, 2015
Awards Season begins with the Independent Spirit Awards nominations. There were definitely some surprise nominees this year, but that also meant there were some unfortunate snubs as well. The overall leader was Carol, which just opened this past weekend. This is great timing and should help its box office numbers, as well as its chances throughout Awards Season. Its six nominations were one ahead of Beasts of No Nation and Spotlight. (One of Spotlight's was the Robert Altman Award, which has no nominations, just one winner.)
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August 4th, 2015
The End of the Tour is the latest success for A24, as it topped the per theater chart with an average of $30,810 in four theaters. Up next were a pair of documentaries, Best of Enemies and Listen to Me Marlon, with averages of $16,913 and $15,034 respectively. The overall number one film was next, as Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation earned an average of $14,034. The final film in the $10,000 club was Phoenix. Its theater count doubled, but its per theater average dropped just 20% to $12,004. That's amazing and it could be an omen that it will expand wide enough to earn some measure of mainstream success.
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July 30th, 2015
It is a bad time of the year to release a limited release. It is too late into summer to think a limited release can expand wide enough to gain mainstream success before summer ends. At the same time, it is far too early for Awards Season buzz to have an effect at the box office. This partially explains why there are so few films on this week's list and fewer still have any chance at box office success. There are only two films on this week's list with strong buzz and overwhelmingly positive reviews. Best of Enemies and The End of the Tour. Both could do well on the Per Theater Chart this weekend, but The End of the Tour is the only film with a shot at expanding significantly.
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Because some of our sources provide box office data in their local currency, while we use USD in the graph above and table below, exchange rate fluctuations can have effect on the data causing stronger increases or even decreases of the cumulative box office.
Weekend Box Office Performance
| Date | Rank | Gross | % Change | Screens | Per Screen | Total Gross | Week |
|---|
| 2015/07/24 |
26 |
$11,317 |
|
6 |
$1,886 |
$11,317 |
1 |
Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue
are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.
For a description of the different acting role types we use to categorize acting perfomances, see our Glossary.
Production and Technical Credits
