Fifa film United Passions scores ‘just $607’ in US
United Passions – a film about the history of – and largely funded by – Fifa appears to have dramatically flopped on its opening weekend.
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Above: Gerard Depardieu and Sepp Blatter at the Cannes Film Festival for a screening of United Passions in 2014
The movie, which cost around £19m – £16m of which came from Fifa – is reported to have made just under £400 in its opening weekend across 10 theatres.
Starring established Hollywod names such as Tim Roth, Gerard Depardieu and Sam Neill, reviewers have nevertheless called the film “cinematic excrement” and “unintentional comedy gold”.
The film portrays Sepp Blatter as an anti-corruption campaigner, and was released in the US just one week after the Fifa president resigned amid a major corruption scandal at the football body.
United Passions has previously been released in other countries including Russia, Serbia and Portugal. The film was most popular in Russia where it made £90,000, it has been reported, while in Portugal it grossed £4,000 and in Serbia £1,600 worth of tickets were sold.
Though full numbers have not yet been released, the film was reported to have made just $607 on Friday and Saturday in its limited US opening.
At the FilmBar theatre in downtown Phoenix, the film was reported to have taken $9, meaning one person went to see it.
At the other end of the scale, the comedy Spy! topped the box office ratings, grossing an estimated $30m on Friday and Saturday.
