Truth, the film based on former CBS News producer Mary Mapes‘ memoir about a retracted 60 Minutes II story, has earned $213,105 in its first two weeks of release. While that number may be small, the film is only playing in 18 theaters across the country: including three in New York City, five in the Los Angeles area, and two in San Francisco. It is not yet playing in Dallas where much of the story takes place. Its average take per theater is $6,534 which is the second-best of the top 30 films playing this past weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.
The film stars Cate Blanchett as Mapes who produced the 60 Minutes story, and Robert Redford as Dan Rather, who was the correspondent on it. Airing on 60 Minutes Wednesday, on Sept. 8, 2004, the piece looked into George W. Bush‘s military service in the early 1970s and used documents to support a claim that Bush was given preferential treatment. A 224-page report released in January 2005 following an independent investigation stopped short of determining the documents were forged, but raised serious questions about their authenticity.
Mapes was fired, and three other executives were forced to resign: 60 Minutes II ep Josh Howard, senior broadcast producer Mary Murphy, and Betsy West, who was in charge of prime time for CBS News, and who–if you believe the film–threw her office phone across her desk when she learned her fate. Dan Rather signed off the CBS Evening News March 9, 2005 and left CBS News in June, 2006.
For its part CBS News says Truth, “tries to turn gross errors of journalism and judgment into acts of heroism and martyrdom.”
“It’s astounding how little truth there is in ‘Truth,’” said CBS Corp. spokesman Gil Schwartz, who is also portrayed in the film.