W.

W. is closing in on its production budget. It's weekend sales fell 49% from the first to the second weekend, but in 2008, a 49% drop off is pretty much the modal second weekend's earnings, so I'm not surprised. Stone threw together a film in a short period of time that got a lot of publicity, and thus reduced the film's overall promotional budget, and will probably turn a small profit. That'll certainly help Stone's career and reputation. It reportedly has some humor and is somewhat sympathetic of Bush (so I hear), so that too may send some good information to the Hollywood brass about ways to go about dealing with politically sensitive material. I think the lessons right now are that Hollywood, when it tries to tell the political stories the way that was done in the 70s such as with All the President's Men, which is heavy on the conspiracy and seriousness, it's not as easy to do. But when done with some sympathy and humor, and if done relatively inexpensively, it's possible to make a film that has some legs. I thought Mr Charlie's War was another good example of that kind of thing. But regardless, it's still tough finding the right balance, no doubt.