Advance screenings for Tom Felton's period drama Belle have begun and you can find out where it's showing early in your US place here. If you're living in Overland Park in Kansas you can win preview tickets from KCTV5 right here.
Fans who have already seen the film are gushing about it (and Tom retweeted a few yesterday) and Oprah even gave it the thumbs up! Check out some opinions below:
I saw #BelleMovie today. Amazing film. @TomFelton and @AmmaAsante were incredible. Definitely go and see it if you get the chance.
— SO DONE (@tidalxirwin) May 4, 2014
Have you seen Belle yet? Based on another great true story . So beautifully executed.
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) May 3, 2014
@AmmaAsante The beauty of twitter is that I get to tell you directly how beautiful #BelleTheMovie is. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you.
— Diana Emuge (@Diana_Emuge) May 5, 2014
Aside from fan reviews the box office figures speak for themselves:
Nice opening for @AmmaAsante's Belle in the US. Debuted on $105k from four screens for a strong $26,250 average for @foxsearchlight #Belle
— Andreas Wiseman (@AndreasWiseman) May 4, 2014
More importantly however, the film, and films like it, is making a bigger impact than sales. The Urban Daily sat down with director Amma Asante and discussed how Hollywood's view of the black woman is turning a corner:
Last week, Lupita Nyong’o was on the cover of People’s Most Beautiful issue and Beyonce made the cover of Time 100. Do you feel mainstream media and the world at large are turning a corner in how they view Black beauty and Black female achievement?
Amma: A few days ago I watched “The Butler” and “Twelve Years a Slave” and started to to weep, because I saw this great tapestry in our history was being woven on the screen, and “Belle” was going to be a part of that in some way. But it made me sad because I thought iss this a phase, a fad in the way that Africa was Hollywood’s muse a few years ago. Everybody was making a movie in Africa – “Blood Diamond,” “Constant Gardener,” etc. We wondered then at that point, what difference that was going to make and whether we were turning a corner. Someone then said something to me ‘Yes, but every time we go through one of these phases it leaves a residue.” And that residue is an important one. So whether we are going through to actually turning a real corner, which I do truly believe we are, or whether it’s another fad or fashion, it’s going to leave a residue, which you will never be able to get rid of. It will stay, and it’s creating a platform for the next time around.
I do believe there is a kind of momentum that’s building now. It’s really for us to seize it. Not just us as people of color, but for the world. If we want to change the world, then we have to change the way we do things. People of color have to go and see movies that have people of color in them. They have to support those movies. So, it’s about us kind of leveraging the momentum, I think, and not letting it become a fad or a fashion that only leaves a residue, but actually pushes us around that corner, and leads us to the next stage of our evolution.
Amma: A few days ago I watched “The Butler” and “Twelve Years a Slave” and started to to weep, because I saw this great tapestry in our history was being woven on the screen, and “Belle” was going to be a part of that in some way. But it made me sad because I thought iss this a phase, a fad in the way that Africa was Hollywood’s muse a few years ago. Everybody was making a movie in Africa – “Blood Diamond,” “Constant Gardener,” etc. We wondered then at that point, what difference that was going to make and whether we were turning a corner. Someone then said something to me ‘Yes, but every time we go through one of these phases it leaves a residue.” And that residue is an important one. So whether we are going through to actually turning a real corner, which I do truly believe we are, or whether it’s another fad or fashion, it’s going to leave a residue, which you will never be able to get rid of. It will stay, and it’s creating a platform for the next time around.
I do believe there is a kind of momentum that’s building now. It’s really for us to seize it. Not just us as people of color, but for the world. If we want to change the world, then we have to change the way we do things. People of color have to go and see movies that have people of color in them. They have to support those movies. So, it’s about us kind of leveraging the momentum, I think, and not letting it become a fad or a fashion that only leaves a residue, but actually pushes us around that corner, and leads us to the next stage of our evolution.
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