German Movie Shot in South Africa Draws Big Box Office
A tragicomic movie about two terminally ill young men on the road in South Africa has been one of the top 10 movies in Germany for most of 2016. According to the write-up for “Der Geilste Tag” (The Most Beautiful Day), writer/director Florian David Fitz “co-stars alongside the hugely popular German star Matthias Schweighoefer and the duo play […]
A tragicomic movie about two terminally ill young men on the road in South Africa has been one of the top 10 movies in Germany for most of 2016.
According to the write-up for “Der Geilste Tag” (The Most Beautiful Day), writer/director Florian David Fitz “co-stars alongside the hugely popular German star Matthias Schweighoefer and the duo play young men who meet in the hospital where both are diagnosed with terminal illnesses. To make the most of the days that remain, they decide to get their hands on a lot of money and go out with a literal, pistol-generated bang at the end of a road trip through picturesque Africa.”
While “Der Geilste Tag” got mixed reviews, it made $12 million in its first week at the end of February, outperforming the blockbuster “Deadpool”. In the next few weeks it was only outperformed by “Zootopia” and “Kung Fu Panda 3”, according to statistics on Box Office Mojo. It was still in the top 10 in mid-April. It had taken in over $14 million in eight weeks versus “Batman v. Superman”, which took in $16 million in four weeks. Not bad for a small movie.
The trailer of “Der Geilste Tag”:
https://youtu.be/Xw3pnhTOESU
At the time of shooting in 2015, a producer was quoted saying the film’s South Africa scenes were shot in the Northern Cape, Durban and on the South Coast, including Uvongo, Margate, Southbroom and Port Shepstone.
While the scenery plays a big part in the movie, it does too in “Jana und der Buschpilot”, a German series made in South Africa by the same company that did “Geilste Tag”, Two Oceans Productions.
On the same weekend “Geilste Tag” premiered in Germany, another movie also shot entirely in South Africa – a sort of comedy and travel documentary, “Südafrica: Der Kinofilm” – began a weeks-long run in that country’s theatres.