What is wrong with you people?
And by you people, we mean our fellow Californians. You are singlehandedly responsible for keeping The Rock's career alive. Every time another one of his movies (which apparently are popular that he was given a spot outside the Chinese Theater) hits theaters we as a society have a chance to put a stop to his success, but we have yet to band together.
And what's the problem this time, you ask? San Andreas.
Dwayne Johnson's latest action flick portrays the aftermath of an unprecedented earthquake that hits California—entire cities collapse, a tidal wave overtakes the Golden Gate Bridge, the earth cracks open...and through it all the dialogue is just as you'd expect. (Perhaps next time he can parlay some of his SNL awesomeness onto the screen?) This should have been the kind of movie that fizzled out just as quickly as it came in, but according to The Hollywood Reporter the state of California is singlehandedly responsible for making San Andreas successful.
The trade reported today that "Moviegoers living in California and other Western states prone to earthquakes flocked to see San Andreas." Flocked! The flick opened with an unprecedented $53 million, and 19 of the 20 top-grossing theaters were in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. Just look what you've done!
This trend was so bizarre that it caused Warner Brothers' president of domestic distribution to exclaim, "You never see this." Never! Apparently Californians are so morbidly fascinated by the idea of a deadly and disastrous earthquake that they literally defy movie theater odds. As one rival studio exec put it, "These are the places where I would have expected people to say, 'No, thanks. I don't want to see this movie.'"
And now, Dwayne Johnson's career is not over—rather, he will go on to torment our great country with hundreds, possibly thousands, more one-liners.
And for that, California, you have only yourselves to blame.