People are certainly buzzing about “Brokeback Mountain”, but if box-office sales are any indicator of audience interest then this film isn’t winning any popularity contests.

The movie took home the Golden Globe Best Picture win on Jan. 16 and garnered eight Academy Award nominations Tuesday, but do little golden statues really mean people want to see the movie?

Ryan Byrne, 19, a fashion merchandising student at SF State admitted his friends aren’t interested in the film.
“I have a lot of friends in Orange County that straight up don’t want to see it because there’s a gay scene and they don’t want to see two guys making out – they think that’s totally gay and don’t want to be exposed to it,” he said.
“Brokeback Mountain” opened in theaters on Dec. 9 in limited release and nationally on Jan. 13 and while it’s listed sixth in last week’s top 10 weekend grossing films, its overall earnings of $50 million over eight weeks is too low to be considered a smashing success by Hollywood standards.

George Leonard, an SF State humanities professor and screenwriter whose projects have been purchased by directors like Ron Howard, is dismayed by the film’s poor box-office performance.

“The box office is a gage of a film’s popularity. This movie’s been out a long time and you’d never dream how little money it’s made,” Leonard said. “A film is considered just a nominal success when its opening weekend grosses around $20 million, this film has made barely twice that in its entirety."

According to various news reports President George W. Bush isn’t interested in seeing the film either. When questioned by Kansas State University student, Jeremy Parker, last week as to whether or not he’d seen the movie, Bush was noticeably shaken in his response, “I’d be glad to talk about ranchin’ but I haven’t seen the movie,” he said before he told the student to go back to the farm.

Some like Anne Mariano, 28, a history major at SF State, did go see the movie but realized it’s not for everyone.
“I went to see it because I’d read good reviews, but most of my friends didn’t want to go because the idea of the gay scenes freaked them out; gay-themed movies aren’t new but usually you see gay scenes between women not men, I think that’s more generally accepted,” Mariano said.”

Accepted or not, when “Big Momma’s House 2” makes three-fourths of “Brokeback Mountain’s” total earnings in its opening weekend alone it’s obvious what most American moviegoers want to spend their money to see.