'Stonewall' Update: Movie seriously misjudged? Film receives negative reception, opens with only $871 per-theater average

By Staff Writer

Sep 29, 2015 05:15 AM EDT

Unfortunately for Roland Emmerich, his "Stonewall" movie didn't get a well-reception from critics. The film only opened with a per-theater average of just $871, and has been coined "seriously misjudged."

According to Huffington Post, the newly released movie about the 1969 rebellion that launched the modern gay liberation movement, has not earned kind reception among critics. It has many indictments, one of which is the fact that the film whitewashes the history of the said event.

New York Post, on the other hand, called Emmerich's take on the film as something that is "seriously misjudged." The movie reportedly turned the transgender drag queens into dress extras, when they had helped change America.

The movie's framework belongs to Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine), a Midwestern kid who flees to New York in order to escape his homophobic parents and attend Columbia.  Upon his arrival in Greenwich Village, he encounters a crew of hustlers who take him under their wing while evading bigoted police as well as the corrupt manager of the titular watering hole.  Along the way, he finds a boyfriend (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and carouses with a fleet of gender-fluid denizens. This places the character at the center of "Stonewall," amid only a few women, people of color and transgender activists.

The "Stonewall" movie did cause a great wave of controversies; hence, the low turnout for the film. Los Angeles Times reported that when the film opened at No. 25 over the weekend, it only grossed around $112, 414 in 129 theaters - an average of only $871 per theater. The publication added that some complained about the film's inaccurate portrayal of the real heroes of history and that it rather paints a fictional, white male character.

Many thinks t "Stonewall" movie didn't bother to consider the facts among fiction and urban legend, thus coined "seriously misjudged." And with critics not giving it a well-reception, a low box-office gross ($871/theater) is somewhat inevitable. 

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