First Kevin Spacey movie post #MeToo makes £99 on its opening day
Kevin Spacey’s first movie since he was accused by dozens of men of sexual harassment and assault made just £99 on its opening day.
The box office performance of Billionaire Boys Club represents an all-time career low for the House of Cards actor.
It made $126, according to data from The Hollywood Reporter, less than $13 per cinema that it was shown in, which fails to meet the average price in the US for even two tickets.
The movie, in which Spacey plays a supporting role, also stars Ansel Elgort and British actor Taron Egerton, and has been released in 10 cities around the US, following a streaming release last month.
For reference, Spacey’s last movie, the Edgar Wright-directed Baby Driver, made over $20 million on its opening weekend in 2017.
Its producers, Vertical Entertainment, had reportedly mulled whether or not to release it, after allegations of sexual harassment and assault dating back 30 years emerged against the actor.
But in a statement, which was released earlier this summer, it confirmed that it would.
“We hope these distressing allegations pertaining to one person’s behaviour, that were not publicly known when the film was made almost two and a half years ago and from someone who has a small, supporting role in Billionaire Boys Club, does not tarnish the release of the film,” the statement read.
“In the end, we hope audiences make up their own minds as to the reprehensible allegations of one person’s past, but not at the expense of the entire cast and crew present on this film.”
Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp was the first to come forward with allegations against Spacey last October, claiming that he was assaulted by the star at a party when he 14.
Many more later came forward, including crew members from the Netflix series House of Cards, and from his tenure while working as creative director of the Old Vic theatre in London.
Netflix ultimately fired Spacey from the show, leaving it to continue its final season without him as its lead character.
He was also fired from a planned Netflix biopic of writer and intellectual Gore Vidal.
Based on a true story, the movie, directed by James Cox, follows the exploits of a group of wealthy young businessmen in 1980s Los Angeles, as they embark on an ill-feted get-rich-quick ponzi scheme.
As well as Elgort and Egerton, it stars Jeremy Irvine, Cary Elwes, Emma Roberts, Judd Nelson, Billie Lourd and Rosanna Arquette.
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