min Exclusive: Magazines' 2007 Best- And Worst-Sellers (Monthlies): "Vanity Fair's" Africa Is King, But Dreamgirls Got A Newsstand Thumbs Down.
Monday, March 31, 2008

Comment Print Email Archives Del.icio.us Digg Share on LinkedIn Reprints

 "Vanity Fair's" Africa Is King, But Dreamgirls Got A Newsstand Thumbs Down.

When and if Graydon Carter pens an autobiography about his spectacular career, the VF editor-in-chief (since August 1992) could justifiably call the Bono-guest-edited July 2007 Africa issue his finest moment at the magazine. Yes, being the first to showcase the newborn Suri Cruise (October 2006), the post-Brad Pitt Jennifer Aniston (October 2005), Watergate Deep Throat Mark Felt (July 2005), and all of the Hollywood issue covers were great triumphs, but they were expected to sell well. Africa, on the other hand, with the AIDS epidemic and the Darfur massacre dominating the news, is far from sexy. But Carter and his staff made it so by commissioning Annie Leibovitz to shoot 20 covers (including Barack Obama and Muhammad Ali shown here) and showing all aspects of what used to the "dark continent." Result was that Africa outsold Hollywood (March 2007) to be VF's best-seller.

That Dreamgirls was VF's 2007 worst-seller could be blamed on J-A-N-U-A-R-Y, because the movie musical was a hit and Jennifer Hudson (not on the Beyoncé/Eddie Murphy/Jamie Foxx cover) won the 2006 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. The holiday season typically depresses VF sales: January 2006's Naomi Watts (King Kong) was worst, and we shall see how the more formidable Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy/Knocked Up, etc.) fares this year.
(more coverage here)

Post a Comment

Name:

Email:

Comments:

Please enter the letters or numbers you see in the image.

Comment Print Email Archives Del.icio.us Digg Share on LinkedIn Reprints