Damon’s anti-fracking flick bombs at box office

Matt Damon’s anti-fracking movie “Promised Land” is not making the box-office splash environmental groups may have hoped for.

The film, co-written by John Krasinski of “The Office,” has brought in a scant $7.5 million since its opening on Dec. 28. In contrast, “Texas Chainsaw 3D” has brought in $33.6 million since its opening on the same weekend.

The theatrical feature film about a town with natural-gas reserves only cost about $15 million to produce, but the Los Angeles Times predicts “it’s a long shot that the film will end up being a hit even given its modest budget.”

Perhaps part of the problem dates back to October, when the conservative Heritage Foundation broke a story revealing that “Promised Land” was financed in part by Image Nation, a film company owned and operated by the oil-rich government of the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Damon told “FrackNation” documentary director Phelim McAleer at a Dec. 3 event in New York that the first time he and his crew were aware Image Nation was involved in the production “was when we saw the rough cut and saw their logo.”

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