Sarah Palin Documentary "The Undefeated" Gets Pulled from Theaters after Poor Run

[JamesG]

Sarah Palin Sanctions Doc
By The Editors at IndieWire
Posted May 25th 2011


An independent film about Sarah Palin is poised for front-line deployment in the battle for the 2012 election.

Real Clear Politics reported today that a two-hour, Palin-sanctioned documentary feature by conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon is set for release before the HBO's Palin-John McCain biopic Game Change, which director Jay Roach began shooting last month, can make its broadcast premiere.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/05/25...-tree-of-life/

[JamesG]

Sarah Palin Documentary The Undefeated Will Feature Hollywood Stars Saying Mean Things About the Former Governor
By John Mitchell
Posted May 26th 2011


In June, The Undefeated, a feature-length documentary about Sarah Palin's rise to national prominence, will be released in theaters in an effort to reform the former Alaskan governor's image as she entertains the idea of a 2012 presidential run.

Late last year, Palin aide Rebecca Mansour reached out to conservative filmmaker Steven Bannon, the documentarian behind the Tea Party doc Generation Zero, to develop a series of videos to protect Palin's reputation and legacy after she stepped down as governor of Alaska.

Bannon decided instead to craft a full-length film and even reportedly self-financed the $1 million flick.






According to The Hollywood Reporter, two versions of The Undefeated will be released.

One is aimed at a general audience and features interviews with Palin supporters, residents of Alaska and conservative bloggers in an effort to clear up alleged misconceptions about Palin.

The second, unedited doc will feature anti-Palin clips from Rosie O'Donnell, Matt Damon, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Howard Stern and Louis C.K. to illustrate the allegedly unfair and cruel treatment she received during her vice-presidential run.







Bannon calls the film "real-life version of 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'"

It will focus on her successes as the governor of Alaska, though it will address her selection as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election and the "liberal media's" attempts to strip her of her credibility.

"This film is a call to action for a campaign like 1976: Reagan vs. the establishment," Bannon told RealClearPolitics. "Let's have a good old-fashioned brouhaha."







Palin did not have any editorial role in the project and was not interviewed for the film. However, Bannon was given audio rights to her 2009 autobiography Going Rogue for use as narration.

She also provided the filmmaker and his crew with access to individuals involved in the major achievements of her gubernatorial administration.





Bannon and his team worked hard to keep the documentary a secret.

"We shot on the weekends, and we shot in locations that weren't being used during those weekends," Bannon told RCP.

"I did it with a handpicked crew of people I know and trust, and we were able to stay under the radar. The planning for the secrecy of this took many, many weeks."







Originally titled Take a Stand, the campaign slogan for Palin's 2006 gubernatorial run, the doc was re-titled The Undefeated, which Bannon and Co. felt was a more "triumphant" title.

Palin is said to be a fan of the feature. "The governor thought it was great," SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford said.





Regardless of whether Palin ultimately decides to run for president in 2012, Bannon believes the documentary will have a major impact on the GOP.

"This will go off like an atomic bomb in the upcoming Republican primary," he told THR.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/05/26...d-celebrities/

[broadmoor]

The "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" analogy is interesting, although the adversity Mr. Smith had to face seems to almost pale in comparison to what Sarah Palin has had to endure. One naturally expects to have one's record mischaracterized in the world of politics. But Palin has had to contend with things like an endless series of frivolous lawsuits specifically designed to bankrupt her family, an arson attempt to burn down her church, seeing her underage children as targets of lewd jokes on national-tv, the accusation of complicity in mass-murder in Arizona by the news-media, etc. Mr. Smith's trials and tribulations seem like small potatoes compared to this onslaught, but otherwise the analogy has merit... regarding outsiders who truly dare to buck the establishment and its ruling order. The fact that Palin has refused to wilt under this astonishing barrage is pretty amazing to me, and seems somewhat indicative of a rare level of inner strength.

[JamesG]

Watch the Trailer for Sarah Palin's The Undefeated
By Harley W. Lond
Posted Jul 7th 2011


This is a documentary by Stephen Bannon about the former Alaska governor, former vice-presidential candidate, and most-likely would-be presidential candidate for 2012. But it is 100 percent Sarah Palin.



According to The Hollywood Reporter, which had a reporter at the documentary's world premiere in Iowa recently, the first 10 minutes of the film features entertainers using vulgar language targeted at Palin -- as a way, we suspect, of showing how nasty, evil and mean Hollywood celebrities can be (a favorite ploy of politicians "fed up" with so-called liberal Hollywood).

"It makes you want to reach out to some of these folks and say, 'What's your problem?'," Palin told THR.





The Undefeated follows Palin's life and rise to prominence as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008. Bannon gained Palin's support following his Tea Party documentary, Generation Zero, which aired on Fox News.

The Undefeated will be released Friday, July 15.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/07/07...eated-trailer/

[JamesG]

Poster for The Undefeated just released:

[JamesG]

Sarah Palin Film: A Hit Or A Miss?
July 18, 2011


Director Stephen K. Bannon’s Sarah Palin documentary The Undefeated may only have grossed around $68,000 in its limited debut in ten theaters over the weekend, but Bannon regards that amount as a big success.

Bannon noted that the filmmakers used social media and word of mouth rather than expensive advertising and publicity to promote the movie and that several venues that showed it did so in theaters that only sat 95 people or so.

“This is a documentary opening against 'Harry Potter' on the toughest weekend of the year. We had small numbers but only in small theaters. In bigger markets, like Orange County, we’ll do $12,000 per screen,” Bannon told the Hollywood Reporter.




But while Harry Potter turned out to be the best-reviewed movie of the year, The Undefeated turned out to be the worst.

The film received not a single positive review from a major newspaper, magazine, or trade critic.

-IMDB News

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by broadmoor

The "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" analogy is interesting, although the adversity Mr. Smith had to face seems to almost pale in comparison to what Sarah Palin has had to endure. One naturally expects to have one's record mischaracterized in the world of politics. But Palin has had to contend with things like an endless series of frivolous lawsuits specifically designed to bankrupt her family, an arson attempt to burn down her church, seeing her underage children as targets of lewd jokes on national-tv, the accusation of complicity in mass-murder in Arizona by the news-media, etc. Mr. Smith's trials and tribulations seem like small potatoes compared to this onslaught, but otherwise the analogy has merit... regarding outsiders who truly dare to buck the establishment and its ruling order. The fact that Palin has refused to wilt under this astonishing barrage is pretty amazing to me, and seems somewhat indicative of a rare level of inner strength.

Well said.

In fact, the reason Palin stepped down as Governor of Alaska was precisely because of frivolous "ethics" complaints that Democrats were constantly filing against her. About 30 (i.e. all of them) such charges proved to be totally without merit, but she (as Governor) still had to apply State resources, personnel etc toward answering the charges. And the Democrats were simply going to keep doing that for the final two years of her term. She didn't want to keep wasting taxpayer money answering a bunch of meaningless charges, so she simply said "fine, I'll step down for the good of the State".

Since then, the left has been absolutely powerless to stop her, despite attacks on all members of her family, including, as you said, her underage daughters (which included crude sexual "jokes" by old men like David Letterman). Neither the left nor any left-wing "women's organizations" (such as NOW) had anything to say about these incidents.

The media is so obsessed with Palin that she literally had them following her family around the country, complaining the entire time that she (Palin) won't tell them in advance where she and her family were going. I loved it!

Conservative women like Palin and Michelle Bachmann (who have actually accomplished things themselves) represent a true threat to the Democrat party, in a way that a man can't be. The Democrat party is really all about women (as well as fractured minority groups).

Conservative women who actually become everything the left claims women CAN be, are viciously attacked and derided by the very same left. Meanwhile, women who only get where they are because of who their husbands are (Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama) are presented by the left and by the LSM as the real role models for women.

That is why the left just goes absolutely berserk upon simply hearing the names Palin and Bachmann.

The fact that Palin chose to give birth to her Down-syndrome son drove them nuts. And the fact that Bristol chose to have HER child did the same thing. The left wanted both of those kids aborted so badly they could taste it, so desperate were they to point to any sign of hypocrisy on the part of the Palin family.

And you just know that the fact that Bachmann and her husband have raised something like 23 foster kids in addition to their own 5 kids (not sure of exact numbers) just drives them nuts, because the Bachmanns put their OWN money where their mouths are when it comes to "the children".

[applecherry]

Well Well what do you know...Has the right wing nuts/ tea baggers finally waken up & realize that Palin's is still the joke that she was when she was on the McCain ticket. Her documentary bombed...What a surprise (NOT). These idiots are trying so hard to make Palin into someone she's not...A POLITICIAN. lol....Who in the hell thought that this doc. would fly...Well it did fly...Right over the tea baggers heads. Oh wait..the tea bagger dump Palin for another idiot...Michelle Bachmann..Dumb & Dumber.

[JamesG]

Palin Documentary Won’t Concede Defeat
25 Jully 2011


After attracting mostly Sarah Palin fans — and not many of those — during the past two weeks, Stephen K. Bannon is withdrawing The Undefeated from theatrical release and plans to release it on video on demand and pay-per-view beginning Sept. 1.

It will then be released on DVD on Oct. 4, Arc Entertainment announced on Sunday.




It indicated that it also has a deal with Walmart for a “Special Edition” DVD that will contain additional content available only to Walmart customers.

It did not describe what sort of additional content the Walmart edition will contain.



The Hollywood Reporter said today (Monday) that The Undefeated collected just $24,000 over the weekend, for a per-theater average of just $1,714.

-IMDB News

[tiredmike59]

Might of had more people come to see it if they gave away free popcorn and sodie pop.

[Tweety]

Wouldn't be the first time a movie about a 2008 politician bombed.



April 8, 2009: Coming Soon To A Theater Near You: Barack Obama
By the People: The Election of Barack Obama

Released on August 7, 2009, the movie was nowhere to be found in the box office records for that week


The movie listed at the bottom of the list took in less than $30 that weekend.

[Riley Martin]

Originally Posted by applecherry

Well Well what do you know...Has the right wing nuts/ tea baggers finally waken up & realize that Palin's is still the joke that she was when she was on the McCain ticket. Her documentary bombed...What a surprise (NOT). These idiots are trying so hard to make Palin into someone she's not...A POLITICIAN. lol....Who in the hell thought that this doc. would fly...Well it did fly...Right over the tea baggers heads. Oh wait..the tea bagger dump Palin for another idiot...Michelle Bachmann..Dumb & Dumber.

lol
somebody is all wee-wee'd up.

[Brad Russ]

I didn't even know she had a movie out. I'm kind of interested in seeing it, but I'll just wait until it comes out on DVD. Actually, it looks like I'll have no choice other than to watch it on DVD, since it's been pulled out of theatres.

[RWCTV]

The reason this movie APPEARS to have bombed isn't so much because the movie actually bombed, or that people don't like her as much as it is because it opened in just a handful of movie theaters. If they could make $65,000 in 7 movie theaters, that's pretty good.

On July 22nd, when an additional 7 movie theaters decided to carry it, those numbers jumped by July 24th (according to Box Office Mojo) to $101,382.

Yet the Huffington Post and other Left Wing media outlets are trying to make it appear as though SHE is the reason the movie is unpopular.

[ABlairican Pie]

I highly doubt that someone with as much visibility and gumption as Sarah Palin would have a movie that bombs at the box office simply because of the subject matter.