2018 is proving that a new category has emerged in the documentary genre: the high profile celebrity biography documentary. Celebrity documentaries are on the rise thanks to a few key films. With $22.6 million in the U.S. to date, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is the 12th highest-grossing doc of all-time, and the biggest moneymaker for a non-nature, non-political and non-concert doc ever. “20 Feet from Stardom” director Morgan Neville’s look at the life of Fred Rogers has captured the attention and hearts of America, so much so that Focus Features is campaigning “Neighbor” for both Best Documentary Feature and Best Picture consideration this Awards Season.
On its tail at the summer box office was “RBG”, focussing on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with a $14 million total. And while “Whitney”, about iconic singer Whitney Houston, hasn’t climbed the charts quite as high as the other two, a $1.3 million opening weekend in just 450 theaters wasn’t too bad at all.
And now, over the next few weeks, we get two more high-profile life-story docs on major celebrity figures: “Love, Gilda” and “Bad Reputation”. The Gilda Radnor doc, featuring interviews from fellow “SNL” cast members Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Bill Hader, as well as Melissa McCarthy and others, is already getting strong buzz. And, as the “Bad” title suggests, audiences will also get to experience the up-and-down career of rock singer Joan Jett.
This year, documentaries have felt more “mainstream” than ever. Neon’s “Three Identical Strangers” has earned $12 million, and “Death of a Nation” is closing in on $6 million. It feels like the right time to release a doc that can grab audiences across the country.
2015’s “Amy”, about late singer Amy Winehouse, earned the Best Documentary Feature Oscar and grossed $8.4 million. But I feel like, if it was part of the current, 2018 trend, it probably would’ve made even more. The same goes for 2010’s excellent “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” ($2.9 million) and the beautiful Roger Ebert doc “Life Itself” (not to be confused with the new Oscar Isaac movie), which only earned $810,500 back in 2014.
Source: Box Office Mojo