Hollywood has pretty much blacklisted Kevin Spacey in light of the multiple allegations of sexual assault against him: He was dropped by his talent agency, booted from House of Cards, and edited out of All the Money in the World after the scandal broke. Over the weekend, moviegoers sent Spacey a strong message themselves, letting him know that—even if he somehow makes it onscreen—they’re not watching his shit anymore.
Billionaire Boys Club, Spacey’s first film since the accusations against him surfaced, made just $126 on opening night, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The average movie ticket costs just under $10, which means fewer than 20 people across the country went to see the thing when it debuted on Friday.
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Even when you look at the whole weekend, the movie’s earnings were staggeringly low: According to THR, it took in about $618 from the 11 theaters where it played nationwide, meaning an average of just six people went to see it in each (uncomfortably desolate) theater that screened it. For a little perspective, consider that Baby Driver, Spacey’s last film to drop before he was accused of sexual misconduct, made $5.7 million on its opening night alone.
Spacey plays a coked-out Beverly Hills big shot in Billionaire Boys Club, which stars Ansel Elgort and Taron Egerton as two young investors who come up quick off a (real-life) Ponzi scheme in the 80s. Back in June, distributor Vertical Media announced it had made what it called “neither an easy nor insensitive decision” to release the movie despite the accusations against Spacey, justifying the move by saying, basically, that the other actors shouldn’t have to suffer for his alleged misconduct.
“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,” Vertical said in a statement. “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.”
Obviously, audiences did make up their own minds here, answering a question the folks at Vertical must have stewed over for months—should we release a movie featuring an accused serial sexual predator?—with a resounding “no.” If Vertical had to insist on putting Billionaire Boys Club out, the distributor probably should’ve just stuck to releasing the film on demand, which it did last month. There’s no way this theatrical run even so much as makes a dent in the $15 million the movie reportedly cost.
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