Despite receiving positive reviews from film critics, Rob Peace struggled to find an audience this weekend in theaters.
The biographical drama about a Black Yale graduate, whose promising life was cut short in a drug-related shooting, earned just $253,200 at the box office, entertainment research & data firm Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The film had a limited release in 481 locations, and earned an average of only $526 per theater.
The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and was acquired by Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).
Related: ‘Rob Peace’ Trailer – Mary J. Blige Fights to Save Her Son From Tragedy
Shawn Edwards, film critic for Fox 4 News in Kansas City, Missouri and executive producer of the Critics Choice Association’s “Celebration of Black Cinema & TV” blamed poor marketing for the film’s lackluster performance.
“It’s sad. It’s a great movie that didn’t have a chance because of a bad distribution deal, which basically included zero P&A [promotion and advertising],” Edwards told Urban Hollywood 411 on Sunday.
“You can’t win without smart and effective marketing. You definitely can’t win with no marketing,” he added. “No one knows that this movie even exist and it’s a shame.”
The drama failed to make the Top 10 this weekend, which was led by Disney/20th Century Studios horror-thriller Alien: Romulus, which opened with a projected $41.5 million from 3,885 locations and a per theater average of $10,682.
Rob Peace is written, directed by and co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). Jay Will (Tulsa King) leads the cast as Rob, a brilliant young man caught between his incarcerated father’s past and his own bright future.
In real life, Rob received an Ivy League education in molecular biochemistry. He was later drawn to the streets and used his intellect to earn $1,000 a day selling marijuana.
Tragically, Rob was shot to death in the basement of a drug “growhouse” in Newark, New Jersey in 2011, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. He died at age 30. No charges were filed in his death.
Mary J. Blige plays Rob’s devoted mother, while Ejiofor portrays his father. The drama also features Gbenga Akinnagbe, Michael Kelly, Mare Winningham, and pop star Camila Cabello.
The film is based on New York Times bestseller The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs — who was Rob’s college roommate.
Moviegoers who did see the film embraced it, giving it a 92 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The drama also received positive reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 76 percent critics score on the website.
Beandrea July of the New York Times wrote, “All told, the movie delivers a well-earned emotional gut punch that refreshingly does not come from perpetuating the physical and systemic violence it aims to shed light upon.”
Ronda Racha Penrice of TheWrap wrote in her review, “Rob Peace isn’t the story of an “Ivy League drug dealer”; it’s the story of a human being who deserved way better than what society gave him.”
Although Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com thought the film fell short and wrote, “Ejiofor opts for a syrupy lens, banal dialogue filled with platitudes, and cardboard characters.”
Rob Peace is currently playing in select theaters nationwide.