News

Am I Racist?, the controversial documentary that satirizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, failed to make the Oscar shortlist of nonfiction features today, despite earning more money at the box office than any other documentary this year, by far.

The film directed by Justin Folk features conservative author and podcaster Matt Walsh going undercover to infiltrate Dei seminars, dinners and the like. It scooped up more than $12 million at the domestic box office, but that wasn’t enough to sway the minds of Academy Documentary Branch members, who determine the shortlist (as well as the eventual five Oscar nominees).

Film participant Amanda Zurawksi and executive producer Hilary Clinton speak after the world premiere of ‘Zurawski v Texas’ at Telluride Film Festival

It may come as cold comfort to the Am I Racist? team, but films with an overt take on American politics were all spurned by the doc branch. Those include Zurawaski v Texas,...

Diversity, equity and inclusion workshops might not seem a natural backdrop for a documentary. But using a satirical spin, Matt Walsh and Justin Folk mined the territory for their feature “Am I Racist?” Exhibitors are typically reluctant to program documentaries, never mind hot-button ones, but they quickly came around. In the process, the film became the highest-grossing doc since 2018.

“I think we approached [the film] in a way that was entertaining and funny,” Walsh said during a Variety-hosted panel for the film on Dec. 3. “I think that drove a lot of interest into this film. And so when the exhibitors took a chance on us, I think it paid off. And part of that was the fact that we were willing to wade into these waters. We were willing to talk about a subject that’s very controversial and do so in a very just, I guess, not expected way.

The conversation,...

The DailyWire+ satirical documentary Am I Racist? broke records by making more than $12 million at the box office. It also landed a session in Deadline’s awards-season showcase Contenders Documentary.

In the movie, director Justin Folk films Matt Walsh infiltrating leaders in diversity movements and causing a scene in disguise. Walsh interrupted a Saira Rao dinner lecture decrying white women by dropping stacks of plates.

While Walsh and Folk disagree with the sentiments expressed by activists like Rao, they also spoke with regular Americans in Black and white communities. Walsh said the message is that Americans want to move on from discussing race.

“I think for a lot of people, they feel like, ‘Let’s move on. Let’s not dwell on these things,’” Walsh said. “By the way, that was the message we heard in the film, not just from white people. We went down south to Louisiana — a Black community in Louisiana,...

In some years, a single film seemingly dashes unimpeded to the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature — Summer of Soul in 2022, for instance, or Citizenfour in 2015. This is not one of those years.

In a notably wide-open race, 169 feature documentaries have qualified for Academy Awards consideration in 2024, all vying for a place on the shortlist, the key step before moving on to a nomination. There are some favorites, of course, including Sugarcane, directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie. The film from National Geographic is among the documentaries we’re spotlighting today at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event, which gets underway at 9 a.m. Pt and serves as an essential guide to navigating a diverse and dynamic field of Academy Award hopefuls.

Click here to launch the livestream.

Sugarcane is both timely and timeless — a story of family reconciliation set in the context of the abusive Indian Residential...

In a twist as predictable as a Hollywood sequel, conservative media and alt-right commentators have made it their mission to ridicule the entertainment industry’s awards circuit. It’s an annual ritual from the Oscars to the Emmys and the Grammys: commentators use YouTube, podcasts and op-eds to denounce Hollywood as a “cesspool of liberalism” and a “bubble of elite self-congratulation.” Yet here’s the irony — many of these same voices, who openly deride the industry, quickly seek its validation when they enter its arena.

Case in point: conservative media company The Daily Wire recently submitted the satirical documentary “Am I Racist?” featuring Matt Walsh, an anti-transgender commentator, for Oscar consideration (Oh my God! Can you imagine “Emilia Perez” star Karla Sofía Gascón being forced to share the same air as him?). While some observers see this as a “troll” move, Walsh insists otherwise. On X (formerly Twitter), he stated,...

The hosts of Deadline’s Doc Talk and ElectionLine podcasts are getting together for an unprecedented crossover episode. Think Law & Order: Svu meets Law & Order: Organized Crime; Angel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural meets Scooby-Doo (Zoinks! — that really happened).

Doc Talk’s John Ridley and Matt Carey and the ticket of ElectionLine’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson debate the greatest political documentary of all time. The candidates may surprise you – one from Brazil, another from Québec, a classic about JFK, a groundbreaking series that ran 14 episodes, and a 7-hour and 47-minute epic ostensibly about an all-star athlete turned accused murderer.

And we plumb a mystery: why conservatives have such a hard time making a documentary that’s any good. Johnson, who is based in Washington, D.C., shares what Steve Bannon had to tell him on that subject. And Patten, Deadline’s Executive Editor, Legal, Labor & Politics,...

Exclusive: After becoming the highest-grossing documentary at the U.S. box office in the past six years, the Daily Wire’s breakout feature Am I Racist? has been set for an October 28 streaming launch on the platform.

Directed by Justin Folk, the film sees conservative commentator and Daily Wire contributor Matt Walsh “investigating diversity, equity and inclusion practices, exposing absurdities through undercover social experiments.”

To date, the film has grossed more than $12M at the theatrical box office after launching in theaters nationwide on September 13, debuting in the top five films in the country on its opening weekend.

The movie has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 reviews, but Daily Wire says the movie has been “largely ignored by mainstream critics, likely for fear of having to acknowledge its success.” The right-wing site also claims that the film has faced boycotts from some independent theaters over “safety concerns”.

Producers are Kirby Williamson,...

Earlier this month, a new satirical comedy launched in theaters, and despite its box office success and high audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has not been receiving many critical reviews. The film, directed by Justin Folk, and starring the right-wing political commentator, Matt Walsh, has been described by many, including Walsh himself, as a documentary. However, some aspects of the film, as well as recent revelations from those involved, suggest otherwise.

Am I Racist? was created by the conservative media company, The Daily Wire, notorious for producing The Ben Shapiro Show, and Mr. Birchum. To some, it was a piece of political media put out to highlight perceived criticisms of Dei, and others simply saw it as a funny film. This is where some of the confusion arises since its comedic elements seem to represent Am I Racist? as a mockumentary, similar to films such as Borat or Drop Dead Gorgeous.

[This story contains spoilers for Am I Racist?]

“Decolonize yourself. Do your own white supremacy dismantling, and then you can start to bring in other people,” declares Regina Jackson at a Race2Dinner in Atlanta, part of an ongoing series she co-founded with Saira Rao designed to help white women confront their own racism, white supremacy and xenophobia. Before anyone can respond, the waiter proposes a toast, instructing guests to “raise a glass if you’re racist.” They all oblige — although Jackson, who is Black, quickly puts her glass down and laughs. “Oh, I’m not racist,” she says.

The seemingly klutzy caterer has been interrupting the group all night long, dropping dishes and even pulling up a seat to explain that he’s got his Dei (diversity, equity and inclusion) certificate. Many of the guests appear confused and perplexed by his odd behavior. “I’m just on the journey,” he says.

He is on a journey — just...

There wasn’t much of a chance that any of the new movies would give Tim Burton and Michael Keaton‘s reunion for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” a run for the top spot. Read on for the weekend box office report.

Sure enough, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was the number-one movie for a second weekend in a row with $51.6 million, down 54% from its opening weekend, bringing its domestic total to $188 million in North America. Overseas, it added another $28.7 million, which helped bring its international total to $76.3 million and worldwide box office to $264.3 million. We’re definitely going to have to wait to see how well this holds up against upcoming movies like “Transformers One.”

James McAvoy starred in the Blumhouse remake of the Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which Universal released into 3,375 theaters with strong reviews, currently at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite a strong premise, the latest Blumhouse only brought in $1.3 million in...

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Am I Racist? is a Borat-style mockumentary comedy film directed by Justin Folk from a screenplay co-written by Folk, Brian A. Hoffman, and Matt Walsh. The Daily Wire film follows conservative political commentator Matt Walsh as he goes undercover to investigate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Am I Racist? stars Matt Walsh in the lead role, with Robin Diangelo, Regina Jackson, and Saira Rao starring in small roles. So, if you loved the comedy, absurdity, and the not-so-politically-correct people in Am I Racist? here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Borat (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – 20th Century Fox

Borat is a mockumentary-style dark comedy film directed by Larry Charles from a screenplay co-written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, and Dan Mazer. The 2006 film follows the story of a Kazakh resident, Borat...

Tim Burton and Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice lost none of its ghostly mojo in its second weekend and easily stayed atop the box office chart with an estimated $51.6 million as it hurtles toward the $200 million mark domestically.

The pic, playing in 4,575 theaters domestically, fell just 54 percent for a 10-day domestic total of $188 million. Overseas, the sequel took in another $28.7 million from 76 markets for a lukewarm foreign tally of $76.3 million and $264.3 million globally.

Blumhouse and Universal’s new horror-thriller Speak No Evil was also good news for the early fall box office. The pic opened in second place with an estimated $11.5 million from 3,375 locations against a budget of just $15 million before marketing. The movie follows an American family as they spend the weekend at a plush British estate only to discover that their host, played by James McAvoy, has a rather sinister side. McAvoy is earning strong marks for his performance.

Every now and then, a low-budget film emerges from outside the studio system and catches fire with the largely ignored right-leaning demographic, leaving mouths agape in Hollywood’s executive suites.

The Daily Wire hopes to add to the list of films that includes “The Passion of the Christ,” “I Can Only Imagine” and last year’s “Sound of Freedom” with the satire “Am I Racist?” — which marks the conservative media company’s first wide theatrical release. Starring comedian Matt Walsh, the “Borat”-style mockumentary takes aim at the Dei movement and is set to open in 1,510 theaters today, representing the most ambitious swing for the 9-year-old company founded by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing.

“They’re leaving plenty of money on the table, and we’re happy to come in and take some of it. Because, at a minimum, you are explicitly refusing to serve 50% of the audience,” Walsh says...

Hurricane Francine in Louisiana won’t scare off Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as the Tim Burton directed Warner Bros. sequel is expected to ease -60% in its second weekend making it the second best second frame for September with around $44M. If that projection holds, it will rank behind New Line’s record September second weekend for It ($60.1M).

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice notched the second-best Tuesday in September behind 2017’s It’s $11.4M with $9M and a running $126.1M domestic cume. For anyone keeping track of Burton’s highest grossing movies stateside, it’s Alice in Wonderland ($334.1M) then Batman ($251M). Currently, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is pacing 12% behind It over five days, that pic ending its initial run at $327.4M (lifetime is $328.8M).

Meanwhile, Hurricane Francine weakened to a tropical storm last night, per CNN, and pushed into the Louisiana inland. We heard there were about 20 theaters that shuttered yesterday from the New Orleans suburbs to Baton Rouge.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” may have given the fall movie season a serious jumpstart, but it’s not the only September release, as we are about to go into yet another busy weekend. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scott McNairy, and Aisling Franciosi (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”) star in Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s remake of the Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which received rave reviews when it premiered at Sundance and ended up streaming on Shudder. Directed by British filmmaker James Watkins (“The Woman in Black”), this remake looks pretty straight-forward with the same premise of a couple traveling to visit another couple they met on holiday, with the biggest difference being that the respective families are now American and British.

Being released after two horror movies bombed two weekends in a row, but Universal has been marketing the heck...

Conservative politico, podcaster, media personality and provocateur Matt Walsh is on a mission to answer a complicated question in the forthcoming documentary Am I Racist?

The Justin Folk-directed film, described as a “social experiment,” comes from the Daily Wire and Digital Astronaut and will mark the company’s first theatrical launch for an in-house production with distribution handled by Sdg Releasing.

To introduce the doc, Daily Wire dropped a trailer on Tuesday that finds Walsh on said mission as he attends anti-racism workshops, crashes private intellectual dinner parties and conducts sit-down interviews with experts and everyday Americans alike on the fiery subject, all the while playing the role of “a bumbling, zealous Dei trainee,” per Daily Wire. One such expert is author Robin Diangelo, who penned White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.

“Growing up in the ‘90s, you never thought much about race.

For years, right-wing commentator, Daily Wire host, and all-around shitty provocateur Matt Walsh has used his platform to go after trans people. So it’s not surprising that this essentialist ideology has become the centerpiece of his new documentary, What Is a Woman? The film, which premiered on the Daily Wire’s website earlier this month, faced controversy leading up to its release. Now, the Daily Wire has bought ads on major social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, to promote the film — and so far, even though the...

Fox News’ streaming service Fox Nation has acquired the rights to the documentary “Right Makes Might” about the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, and TheWrap has the first look at a clip from the film ahead of the film’s premiere.

“Right Makes Might: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates” will debut on Fox Nation on Thursday, September 24, and the first clip for the documentary explains how Lincoln’s rhetoric as a debater during the Great Debates of 1858 helped remind voters of their basic humanity and the tenets that the founding fathers had put in place.

“The American people were beginning to lose the language of the founders, they were beginning to lose a way of speaking about themselves as fellow citizens that reminded them of their common purpose, their common humanity and their common possession of individual rights,” Professor Lucas Morel of Washington & Lee says in the clip. “Today, we...

The Adam Carolla-Dennis Prager starring documentary No Safe Spaces, focusing on the free speech debate and “cancel culture,” secured home video release by Mill Creek Entertainment on Sept. 15 and international release in Latin America by MGM.

The project, directed by Justin Folk and produced by Mark Joseph, lands right in the midst of heated debate over the boundaries of free speech and the extent to which backlash chills discourse. Earlier this week, Bari Weiss, staff editor and writer for The New York Times opinion section, resigned and posted an open letter decrying “constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views.” But the issue also has inspired a debate over the debate, as President Donald Trump has seized on “cancel culture” as a campaign rallying cry and others have argued that there is a need for context.

No Safe Spaces got a theatrical release last year and earned $1.3 million air the box office.

In today’s film news roundup, William Moseley and Johanna Braddy get starring roles, Gravitas buys Malcolm Gladwell’s driverless car documentary, “The Fiddling Horse” gets a prize and “No Safe Spaces” gets a release.

Castings

William Moseley (“The Royals”) and Johanna Braddy (“Unreal”) are starring in the inspirational drama “Pencil Town,” which has just wrapped shooting around Los Angeles.

The feature film is based on a true story about a ruthless corporate raider on the verge of making partner at his private equity firm, when he is forced to return to his small town roots after he suddenly inherits his father’s nearly bankrupt pencil factory — the heart and soul of the depressed community. He must decide to either join the fight to save the factory, or let it close and relocate to China.

The cast includes Mimi Kennedy, Mary Pat Gleason, Shashawnee Hall, Paul Dooley, Bill Cobbs and James Eckhouse.

Sneak Peek filmmaker Justin Folk's crowd-sourced comedic documentary "No Safe Spaces", featuring commentator Dennis Prager and comedian Adam Carolla talking to college students and faculty about university 'safe spaces', revealing "...the most dangerous place in America for ideas..."

"...'No Safe Spaces' is a new film that exposes the hysteria and lunacy taking place at universities, and how our future depends on stopping it.

"Come along on a road trip that will include trigger warnings, real social justice warriors and maybe even some tailgating.

"'Adam' and 'Dennis' will show you how so many terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ideas have ruined college for young people and now threaten to ruin the country by creating a nation of 'snowflakes' who melt when they encounter an idea that they disagree with. And while the topic is serious, we can't resist making this a funny film..."

Click the images to enlarge and...