Former Vice President Al Gore's new documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, opened this past weekend to disappointing numbers, earning less than $1 million and ranking 16th place at the box office.
An Inconvenient Sequel is the follow up to Gore's successful 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which focuses on his efforts to spread his message on the threats that global warming poses.
The sequel had a limited release on Friday, July 28 to only four theaters and earned just $124,823 that weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. In its opening weekend from Aug. 4-6, the movie grossed $961,193, showing in 180 movie theaters—significantly less gross than the original.
An Inconvenient Truth's opening weekend made $1,356,387 while being shown on just 77 screens in 2006.
Washington Monthly writer D.R. Tucker blamed the documentary's poor ticket sales on Paramount. He claimed the film studio's decision to abandon plans to give An Inconvenient Sequel a wide release on July 28 was the reason.
"Back in June, Paramount abandoned plans to give An Inconvenient Sequel a wide release on July 28, choosing instead to release the film in only four screens in New York and Los Angeles on July 28 and only 180 screens nationwide a week later," Tucker wrote on Monday. "Apparently, Paramount executives thought it was wiser to copy the 'platform' release strategy of 2006's An Inconvenient Truth.
The writer then made a sudden shift to politics, arguing that the film should have been widely released earlier because it is an anti-Donald Trump work.
"However, considering the fact that this is arguably the first major anti-Trump documentary to hit theaters — and considering the public outrage over Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement — Paramount should have stuck to its original plan," Tucker wrote.
Gore portrays his new documentary as an effort to educate the public on climate change and influence international policy.
"A decade after AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution," the movie summary states on the film's website.
"Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy," the summary says.