Woke 'Reacher' Star Alan Ritchson Sees Second Movie Bomb at Box Office in as Many Months
While basketball legend Michael Jordan has largely distanced himself from the famous quote that “Republicans buy shoes, too” — he says it was more of an offhand joke than an actual statement of his beliefs — it remains an enduring quote in pop culture for a reason.
The story stems from a 1990 North Carolina Senate race between Harvey Gantt, a black Democrat, and incumbent Jesse Helms, a Republican.
Jordan was asked to endorse Gantt, and declined, apparently joking that he appreciates his Republican sneaker customers, too.
Joke or not, there likely is some wisdom in Jordan’s quip.
Alienating potential customers in the name of hyperpartisan politics seldom works out well, whether you’re veering to the far left or far right.
Obviously, not everyone subscribes to this theory of neutrality.
(See: Sheeran, Ed.)
Take, for instance, progressive “Reacher” star actor Alan Ritchson. Unlike Jordan, who wanted to be cognizant of his diverse customer base, Ritchson has thrown any pretense of bipartisanship out the window — and if you’ve seen Ritchson’s size, you know that he can throw it far.
The actor has had no qualms alienating potential “Reacher” fans who may have a different political or ideological background from the mountainous Ritchson.
Ritchson has left no illusions that he does not like President Donald Trump or his supporters.
The actor has called Trump a “rapist,” per Cleveland.com, and also has taken a number of swipes at Trump in relation to disgraced sex convict Jeffrey Epstein, per The Hollywood Reporter.
His rhetoric was getting so aggressive and alienating that studios apparently had to warn him to keep his political musings to himself, according to The Washington Times.
And given the box office success — or lack thereof — from Ritchson’s two most recent big-picture releases, it’s easy to see why studios were warning him.
According to Box Office Mojo, Ritchson’s July film “Motor City” made a paltry $3 million. IMDb notes that the film had an estimated budget of $30 million.
Ritchson’s next film, “Runner,” came out in September and fared a bit better, raking in over $13 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. But according to Movie Web, “Runner” had a budget ranging from $35 million to $45 million.
(None of the box office figures account for marketing.)
That’s over $65 million spent on two films that brought back less than $20 million total thus far.
The bizarre part of this is that neither movie was critically panned. Critics weren’t going gaga for it like, say, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” but the movies were largely inoffensive action films.
There’s obviously a large confluence of factors involved when dissecting box office flops. A number of mitigating factors could be at play in Ritchson’s lackluster box office drawing power.
But Ritchson’s corrosive rhetoric almost assuredly played some role in these films’ subdued box office returns.
Jordan may have been joking, and it turns out that Republicans not only buy shoes, but may buy movie tickets as well.
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