Sparkle may not have made the box office splash that Sony Pictures Entertainment had hoped, but the remake of a 1976 blaxploitation classic is winning in other ways. The film has earned praise for its portrayal of positive, ambitious black women and for putting a new spin on the classic without cheapening it.
The movie came out to a $12 million opening weekend, which was at the low end of the industry’ expectations.
The Washington Post gave high marks to the reboot, which was written by Mara Brock Aki (The Game, Girlfriends) and directed by her husband Salim Akil (Jumping the Broom, The Game). The review noted that the new version of Sparkle is more fast-paced than the original, dropping the clunky monologues that weighed down the original.
The movie centers around three talented sisters trying to break into show business in Mot0wn-era Detroit, which shifted from the original movie’s setting in Harlem. The pair have to deal with an overbearing mother played by Whitney Houston in her final role. And earning positive reviews in her first major role is Jordin Sparks, who plays the title character Sparkle.
The Washington Post also noted that this new version of Sparkle portrays its characters in a much more ambitious light. Jordin Spark’s portrayal of Sparkle is not the innocent character originally played by Irene Cara but instead is creative and ambitious.
Sparkle could have some hope for the future, NBCNews notes. Despite the less-than-expected showing at the box office, the film did earn an A from CinemaScore, meaning it has a good chance to ride of wave of positive word-of-mouth that could help it avoid the typical second-week drop-off and lead it to a long theatrical run. And, despite its star power, Sparkle actually only cost a modest $14 million to produce.
Well, I'm here to tell you that the new Sparkle was almost flawless; my family and I enjoyed it immensely. I still watch the original Sparkle from time to time and would certainly recommend both! Whitney was great as was Mike Epps as was Carmen Ejojo as was… I loved the "twist" in one of Tika Sumpter's scene. As Levi said in the first Sparkle, "All of yall was good!"
Well, I'm here to tell you that the new Sparkle was almost flawless; my family and I enjoyed it immensely. I still watch the original Sparkle from time to time and would certainly recommend both! Whitney was great as was Mike Epps as was Carmen Ejojo as was… I loved the "twist" in one of Tika Sumpter's scenes. As Levi said in the first Sparkle, "All of yall was good!"
Just really trying to phatham how sure a good movie didn't do more at the box office especially when I know of several people personally who saw it more than once
you can't believe what the media say's they always say that black positive movies are not doing well it makes it seem like black people or any people for that matter don't want to see positive black movies on screen which is a lie.they think all people want to see are negative black films like precious, monsters ball or the help.so they lie and say good movies like sparkle are not doing well the producers and actors of sparkle need to say something about these lies or black folks well never see any more good images of the black community.how could a movie that gets rave reviews and tickets selling out like crazy and the other films no one is talking about or selling tickets as fast or selling out like sparkle is be number one or two at the box office sounds like a racist lie to me this needs to stop.no one out side the movie industry really knows how much a movie made or is making unless your actually there in the mist of it all counting the money yourself so the media can easily fool the public and we wont know the truth. all we can do is use are common sense and put two and two together and know that they are lying through their rotten teeth.
Whitney and Mike Epps, was great…The movie was good, and yes all of you was good!