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'Leo's Eco Movie Bombs' rang loud and clear in the media.

Comments from the mainstream media 'It's a good thing Leonardo DiCaprio made so much money from "Titanic" a decade ago' and 'His environmental documentary, "The 11th Hour," has been a total bust at the box office.

Released in 2007, after the first 18 days in release, the film had grossed only $417,913 from ticket sales.'
By comparison, Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" had already made $3.5 million by its 18th day of release.

But, hold on,  this movie wasn't about money, it was about promoting a message that the celebrity has a passion for and was prepared to put his personal bank account on the line.

So what is the positives and negatives to come out of this rush from celebrities such as Leonardo and Kate Blanchett to promote themselves as environmentally conscious.

Firstly, having a celebrity of Leonardo's standing makes people sit-up and take notice and can certainly reach and audience of millions, whereby other form of eco promotion, unless it is sensational, is usually downplayed or simply ignored by mainstream media.

Whilst the '11th hour' told us nothing new, it touched a young audience of teens to young adults who, to this stage, seemed like the problem of global warming would just disappear. A search of Google using the term 'the 11th Hour', the documentary currently has 3,100,000 listings compared to 'An Inconvenient Truth' with 2,840,000 listings. Based on this result and the high profile Leonardo currently has achieved with his environmental message, surely one would have to agree, the documentary was a resounding success.

The negatives. With the lambasting Leonardo and his documentary received by mainstream media, other  high profile celebrities may be reluctant to go public with their own message or be involved in promoting some other worthwhile message. This is sad.

To view a trailer of the '11th Hour' or purchase the video, click here.

Article supplied by eco writer - Richard de Largie D'Alton