Posted by | Ray Cornelius
It was a bitter sweet weekend for Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan. Before attending an L.A. screening of the film last night, Jordan received the news that George Zimmerman had been acquitted of charges that he murdered Trayvon Martin. Upset by the verdict, Jordan considered skipping the viewing and the post Q&A all together. Fruitvale Station is based on the real life story of Oscar Grant, who was wrongfully killed by a white Bay Area officer at Oakland, CA transit station in 2009. The irony of the verdict occurring during the same weekend as the film’s debut is a harsh reality that was very unsettling for the 26-year-old actor.
“My heart hurts so bad right now. I wasn’t going to come after I found out about George Zimmerman getting acquitted. It broke me up. That’s why I think this film means so much, because it keeps happening again and again. [We must] learn how to treat each other better and stop judging one another just because we’re different. It’s not just a black and white thing, it’s a people thing. It’s the only way that things are going to take the necessary steps to move in the right direction so things can get better because I don’t think it’s ever gonna stop, but something’s gotta fucking change.”
The silver lining to all of this, however, is that Fruitvale Station did extremely well at the box office and is poised for an even bigger nationwide release on July 26. According to Indie Wire, the film took in $377, 285 from just 7 theaters and averaged about $53,898 per theater. It also managed one of the 5 best per-theater-averages of the year, beating out last year’s hit film Beast of the Southern Wild, which averaged $42,426 from 4 theaters.
Fruitvale Station is also the winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Awards and received a standing ovation.
Congrats to Michael B. Jordan and the film’s director, Ryan Coogler on a job well done!
