Dinesh D’Souza’s political documentary Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party has become the top-grossing documentary of 2016.
The third film from the controversial conservative filmmaker — after 2016: Obama’s America and America: Imagine the World Without Her — has taken in $5.2 million in its first 12 days of release, according to Box Office Mojo.
That number puts Hillary’s America ahead of the IMAX documentary A Beautiful Planet, which grossed $4.1 million this year, and the $3.8 million earned by Michael Moore’s latest, Where to Invade Next, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
THR notes that D’Souza’s film is already ranked No. 10 on the top-grossing political documentaries ever, and is the best-performing documentary overall since the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy was released last summer.
Breitbart News attended the film’s premiere in Los Angeles, where hundreds of eager fans and conservative celebrities including Jon Voight and Kevin Sorbo packed the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood for an early look.
“At the end of the day, we want this film not only to help mobilize and rally and unify Republicans, but we also want the film to reach middle-of-the-road guys and Independents and the kind of people who will probably decide this election,” D’Souza said after the screening in Los Angeles had concluded. “I’m not really trying to convert the left. I’m content to dismay and flummox them.”
Breitbart’s Jen Lawrence attended the film’s premiere in Cleveland on the eve of the Republican National Convention, where she reported that lines stretched around the block for entry into the screening.
The film took off shortly after its premiere on July 17, pulling in $74,814 from just three theaters in Texas and Arizona.
Hillary’s America traces the history of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s position atop it. D’Souza traces the early days of Clinton’s political career, from her meetings with radical community organizer Saul Alinsky to her early relationship with Bill Clinton and on to more recent scandals including her role in the attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, her private email server and allegations of corruption at the Clinton Foundation.
The success of Hillary’s America comes as the film adaptation of Clinton Cash, based on Breitbart Senior Editor Peter Schweizer’s book of the same name, has electrified social media during the Democratic National Convention this week.
The film, produced by Breitbart Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and directed by M.A. Taylor, has already surpassed 1.1 million views online and has trended on Facebook for all three days of the Democratic National Convention thus far.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum