Release: The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys
Genre: Drama
Director: Dee Rees
Writer: Harry Wright
Based on the novel by Colson Whitehead
Cast: Mahershala Ali, Ashton Sanders, Shameik Moore, Jackie Earle Haley, Keith L. Williams, Cicely Tyson, Trevor Jackson, Zachary Gordon, Bill Camp, Ray Abruzzo, Kevin Carroll



Budget: $26,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $39,203,398
Foreign Box Office: $20,359,962
Total Profit: $1,106,504

Reaction: Honestly, we're just happy that the film broke even. We always felt like this pitch was going to be a hard sell at the box office even with Mahershala Ali in the cast.

"I'm not sure this was the filmmakers' intent, but I found the sequences of Mahershala Ali much more dramatically compelling than the primary story line of the film set at the juvenile center. Ali does such a great job at portraying quiet reflection that it was more compelling. That said, it was a good movie overall, but I feel like Ali's sequences were more unique and better executed." - Henry Daniels, Vancouver Sun

"The Nickel Boys is a well meaning film, but it probably works best in the novel format. I found myself oddly unaffected by the suffering and injustices depicted in the film as I had trouble connecting with the youth characters and their predictable story line." - Geoff Bray, Slant Magazine

"The Nickel Boys hits all the notes you'd expect of a film depicting violence and injustice on African-Americans during the early 1960s South. It does it well thanks to a strong adaptation from Harry Wright, but there still is only so much new to be done with the subject matter." - Jon Farrell, Hollywood Reporter

Rated R for language and depictions of violence against minors