March 22, 2013: Film by Boyertown Grad Grosses Over $30 Million in Opening Weekend

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

March 22, 2013: Olympus Has Fallen has opened in theaters around the country, and on its opening weekend, it has grossed $30,500,000. Starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart, it was written by Creighton Rothenberger, a graduate of Boyertown Area High School and the University of Pennsylvania.

It was not Creighton’s first national recognition; in 2002 he received the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his Korean War picture, The Chosen, which was selected from more than 6000 entires. It was based on a true story when the Marines were surrounded by 10 Chinese divisions in North Korea during the bitter winter of 1950.

Olympus Has Fallen ultimately earned more than $161,000,000 at box offices worldwide.

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