Kevin Spacey’s new film Billionaire Boys Club opened to a disastrous $126 on Friday. Also starring Ansel Elgort, Taron Egerton and Emma Roberts, the crime drama just made a measly total of $618 over the weekend. Directed by James Cox, though the film was released first via video on demand back in July, it’s the allegations of sexual assault against Kevin Spacey that’s being seen as the reason behind the boycott of Billionaire Boys Club in cinemas.
Earlier this summer, the makers of Billionaire Boys Club, Vertical Entertainment, had given out a statement on why it chose to go ahead and release the film despite the multiple allegations of sexual assault against one of its actors - Kevin Spacey. The statement said: “We hope these distressing allegations pertaining to one person’s behavior — 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.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Kevin Spacey-starrer had an average take of under $12.75 at each cinema it opened in, which is less than the cost of 2 seats based on the average ticket price of $9 in the US.
Compared to the paltry $618 for Billionaire Boys Club, Kevin Spacey’s 2017 film Baby Driver earned over $20 million at the box-office in its opening weekend.
Several allegations against Kevin Spacey began surfacing in October last year after Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexual harassment when he was just 14. Spacey was soon after fired from the final season of the popular Netflix series House of Cards. Variety reports that the actor was also part of Ridley Scott’s film All the Money In the World - but was replaced by Christopher Plummer when the allegations against Spacey came up.
For some perspective, the Variety also reports that while it’s a career-low opening for Spacey, it’s not the first film to collect under $1000 at the box-office over a weekend. Films like Higher Power and The Other Side of Everything have been there and done that, BUT Billionaire Boys Club would be the first film with four A-list actors to tank at the box-office so miserably.
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