By: Taren Vaughan
Fruitvale Station box office numbers are impressive so far. The Trayvon Martin case has truly exposed the harsh realities when it comes to the justice system as they are continuing to be revealed through other cases and films. “Fruitvale Station” documented the story of 22-year-old black male Oscar Grant who was fatally shot by a police officer after his New Year’s celebration with friends ended in an altercation on the BART train they were traveling on in Oakland, California. Oscar and his friends were detained by police officers on the station platform where the officers assaulted them and treated them like animals.The incident was captured on video by several of the train riders and sparked protests in the Bay Area as the treatment Oscar and his friends received reminded many of the brutal beating Rodney King endured from LAPD officers.
As for the film, the very talented Michael B. Jordan took on the lead role as Oscar Grant and nailed the part with ease, as did Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer, who played Oscar’s mother in the film. And based on what is revealed in the movie, Oscar Grant was on the verge of making some very positive changes in his life. The movie made its way to U.S. theaters this past weekend and already the film is pulling in big numbers at the box office, BET reports:
Fruitvale Station, which expanded to over 1,000 theaters this weekend, delivered an “outstanding” box-office performance according to analysts, pulling in $4.8 million from mostly adult and Black moviegoers. The film’s critical acclaim, excellent word-of-mouth (Spike Lee called it his favorite film of the year last week) and relevant timing due to the Trayvon Martin verdict has led to sustained audience interest, which was the only non-studio film to crack the top 10 this week. The film’s two breakout stars, lead actor Michael B. Jordan and writer/director Ryan Coogler, are already set to re-team on the Rocky spinoff Creed.
The staff members at UBM have seen the movie and we all truly enjoyed it. “Fruitvale Station” is an intense, yet great film that is well worth your money and it will probably leave you shedding some tears.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to see “Fruitvale Station” yet, check out the official trailer for the film below:
This movie was so good! Support it!
Very good movie. Michael B. Jordan is a great actor. He’s one of the gems from The Wire. I wish him continued success.
Yeah I cried after Wallace was killed. I’m not surprised he went on to do some great things though. He’s a great actor.
Still watching it? What season are you on now?
Four. It’s so good!
Season one and three are perfection but hands down season 4 is the best! That show is a classic man, I’m still mad it’s gone.
Never watched The Wire but everyone swears it’s one of the best shows of all time. Reading this makes me want to watch it. Where can I watch it now?
It’s an awesome show. I know you can buy it from iTunes but if you have HBO you might be able to watch it on HBO Go.
Loved it. It had me crying at the end though.
I’m going to have to catch it this weekend.
Haven’t seen it yet. I’m going to go this weekend but everyone says it’s really good.
I was waiting on a post about this…
It is a really great movie yall. It will make you laugh, mad, and cry and all the actors did a great job. People in the theater were really upset once we got to the end. I have to say Michael B. Jordan is very talented. I can’t believe he’s the same little knucklehead from the wire sometimes.
Oscar Grant is another story that proves this country has a long way to go when it comes to racism.
Very good movie.
I decided to see this over that Wolverine crap and I’m glad I did.
Had me in tears! We all knew how it would end but it was so hard to watch it happen anyway. Great acting.
Michael B. Jordan is such a cutie pie. LOL.
Heard great things. I’ll go see it this weekend since it’s my date night. 🙂
I’ll go see it, too. Just yesterday, hubby commented that we haven’t been to the theater in a while to which I replied that there really wasn’t anything great to see. Heard about ‘Fruitvale’, but really had no idea what it was about, nor had I stopped to read any reviews on it. Thanks, UBM!