Billionaire Boys Club (Kevin Spacey, 2018) has $126 debut

[Destinys Memory]

Didn't see a thread (hope that's not because it got closed). Let's be on our best behavior, and not try to derail and get the thread locked, shall we?

Kevin Spacey's 'Billionaire Boys Club' Earns Abysmal $126 on Opening Day

The ensemble crime-drama — also starring Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) and Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service)— marks a career box-office low for the disgraced Spacey after premiering first on VOD.

The [film] opened Friday in 10 theaters scattered in select states across the U.S. The indie film earned an abysmal $126 for the day, following its release on premium VOD last month, according to those with access to theater grosses.

Put another way, that's a per location average of $12.60, which doesn't even equal two tickets if going by the current average ticket price of $9.27. For the full weekend, Billionaire Boys Club could have trouble hitting $1,000 — by far the worst showing of a film starring Spacey. Titles that debut first on VOD aren't generally big draws at the box office, but Billionaire Boys Club is faring particularly poorly.

Emma Roberts, Jeremy Irvine, Cary Elwes, Judd Nelson and Billie Lourd also star in the movie, which is based on the real-life club of the same name that made headlines in Southern California in the 1980s. Spacey plays real-life Beverly Hills high-roller Ron Levin.

Earlier this summer, distributor Vertical Entertainment said it would go ahead and release Billionaire Boys Club on VOD and in cinemas. In a statement at the time, Vertical said it was "neither an easy nor insensitive decision."

The movie's top gross on Friday — $45 — was earned at the Metro Movies 12 in Middletown, Connecticut, followed by the AMC Sundial in Sarasota with $19. Only $9 was generated at the AMC Deer Valley 16 in Antioch, California. That could mean only one person showed up at the Deer Valley cinema; ditto for the Lakeville 21 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, where the film earned $10 on Friday.

Billionaire Boys Club isn't playing in either Los Angeles or New York. Instead, the 10 theaters are in the Bay Area, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, the Hartford/New Haven area and Miami and Sarasota, Florida.

Spacey is absent from the film's teaser poster, save for a very tiny credit.



Trailer:

BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB Official Trailer (2018) Taron Egerton, Emma Roberts - YouTube

Available to rent or own on VOD services if you wish to partake:

VUDU
Amazon

[toddly6666]

Awful title, and when one finds out that Spacey is in it, it sounds like a 1970s gay porn that was just released on Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome.

[AaronJ]

Funny, but when I read the title I read it as "$126M" since you don't assume that anything would make $126.

PS: Heck, I bet I could take my iPhone, with a lens, and get some random people off the street and make something that would make at least that much.

[scifisuperfan]

That Ansel guy works a lot with Kevin.

[cinemaphile]

Well it only played in 10 theaters, with no promotion, because I am sure it was just to fulfill a contractual obligation, or they wouldnt have bothered at all. It has already been available to watch for a few weeks on all the digital platforms.

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

Well it only played in 10 theaters, with no promotion, because I am sure it was just to fulfill a contractual obligation, or they wouldnt have bothered at all. It has already been available to watch for a few weeks on all the digital platforms.

Exactly, you don't debut a film weeks before on digital, nor avoid playing it in New York and LA, if you have any interest in a legitimate theatrical run.

I'm guessing there was a 10 theater minimum release (I believe that's the number some other digital focused releases opened to as well- though they usually include an NYC and LA site in the mix) in the contract, and don't see its theatrical performance as notable when it was such an afterthought.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

Well it only played in 10 theaters, with no promotion, because I am sure it was just to fulfill a contractual obligation, or they wouldnt have bothered at all. It has already been available to watch for a few weeks on all the digital platforms.

Though these days, assuming it's not like the next Avengers movie or something like that, you can do at least some marketing for free by using social media. At least locally.

[olivasauce]

Trailer doesn’t look that bad though certainly not something I’d pay to watch in theatres. Also the storyline seems to be Kevin Spaceys character screwing a bunch of young guys and then those young guys getting revenge. Pretty meta if you ask me.

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Though these days, assuming it's not like the next Avengers movie or something like that, you can do at least some marketing for free by using social media. At least locally.

This sort of lip service limited theatrical release without any promotion happens all the time, even Steven Seagal's direct-to-video crap. Plays in a few theaters one weekend, gone before the next. But because it's Kevin Spacey, it becomes a click bait headline.

[Poya]

Spacey plays villains a lot because, deep down, he knows he’s one.

[ditcin]

I'm one of those people who doesn't think Spacey is getting what he deserves. Truthfully the guy that opened his mouth about this whole affair from years gone by is a bit of a loser looking for a hype to his career.
First - What the hell was a 14 year old kid doing at an adult party. No one asks that question.
Second, nothing actually happened. If it did, well that could be different.

I knew someone who had told me about Spacey's preference, years ago. Space might be "touchy feely" but I never heard he was a maniac. It was more like the word "no" carrys weight.
No one lost a job, or was told they would get one if they were with Spacey.

So, I blame the guy more than Spacey. He put himself in an adult situation - he got it. Don't ***** years later when your career is almost in ruin.

[Wintendo]

21: a movie where kevin spacey tricks young men for his own personal gains and gets found out and runs out of lies to tell.

Billionaires Boys Club: a movie where kevin spacey tricks young men for his own personal gains and gets found out and runs out of lies to tell.

i bet there are other movies hes done with the same basic character plot hes done too.

its painfully reflective of the actors reality and so this movie has not turned out well.

spacey is done, and so is james gunn. all of this is true, because it rhymes.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by ditcin

I one of those people who doesn't think Spacey is getting what he deserves. Truthfully the guy that opened his mouth about this whole affair from years gone by is a bit of a loser looking for a hype to his career.
First - What the hell was a 14 year old kid doing at an adult party. No one asks that question.
Second, nothing actually happened. If it did, well that could be different.

I knew someone who had told me about Spacey's preference, years ago. Space might "touchy feely" but I never heard he was a maniac. It was more like the word no carry weight.
No one lost a job, or was told they would get one if they were with Spacey.

So, I blame the guy more than Spacey. He put himself in an adult situation - he got it. Don't ***** years later when you career is almost in ruin.

It was a party with all the actors from the play they were both in. It wasn't an 'adult' party, it was a cast party and one where they should've all been safe, yes even a 14 year old.

While I agree it is much ado about nothing as nothing happened, he has always been known as being a bit 'hands on' with younger men in his sphere of work colleagues.

If he wanted to get laid there are plenty of gay bars for him to visit. The fact he always did it in work situations with younger men in his 'employ' or that he has some kind of power over, is very predatory behaviour.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by Wintendo

spacey is done, and so is james gunn. all of this is true, because it rhymes.

Spacey probably, but I don't think anyone cares about Gunn and by comparison, Gunn has done absolutely nothing wrong other than to make a few bad jokes.

[ditcin]

Sorry. If I had a kid that was 14 - there would be no way in hell he'd go to a party - especially in Hollywood with his parent/parents. Any parent that doesn't understand or consider that is stupid. Simple.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by ditcin

Sorry. If I had a kid that was 14 - there would be no way in hell he'd go to a party - especially in Hollywood with his parent/parents. Any parent that doesn't understand or consider that is stupid. Simple.

So now you're blaming the victim and his parents for someone else's bad behaviour?

One would imagine the parents knew all the cast members considering the boys age, they probably thought he would be safe

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by Wintendo

21: a movie where kevin spacey tricks young men for his own personal gains and gets found out and runs out of lies to tell.

Billionaires Boys Club: a movie where kevin spacey tricks young men for his own personal gains and gets found out and runs out of lies to tell.

i bet there are other movies hes done with the same basic character plot hes done too.

its painfully reflective of the actors reality and so this movie has not turned out well.

spacey is done, and so is james gunn. all of this is true, because it rhymes.

Assuming Gunn's stuff is just bad and gross humor (which as far as evidence has shown it is) I think his career will be okay. Already there has been talk about other studios interested in him, he's just done at Disney. Frankly, Disney didn't do their due diligence when hiring him, they could have easily found his tweets (were only a couple years old by then), plus if they'd seen his other work and interviews (in Super he talked about wanting to push boundaries beyond R rated limits, and how the quasi female on male rape scene is both played for humor and inspired by a personal experience), they could have expected this.

As for Spacey, he is one of my favorite actors (did get this film with Google Play credits, and will probably watch it soon), but I'm not sure he will get future work. He has a history of this type of behavior allegedly, and even had issues as recently as the House of Cards set. So I imagine a lot of time and personal
growth would need to occur before he got another chance, and if he doesn't get one, he brought it on himself.

[brian9229]

I found it quite funny this made like $126 over the weekend. Someone is certainly done.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by brian9229

I found it quite funny this made like $126 over the weekend. Someone is certainly done.

I doubt it actually had anything to do with Spacey. He's not listed on the poster or anything. It's just a dud all round.

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by Impossible

I doubt it actually had anything to do with Spacey. He's not listed on the poster or anything. It's just a dud all round.

The digital version I have has him listed second (after Elgort and before Egerton) and he is featured in the trailer, I think it's the international marketing where they are hiding his involvement (different marketing plans for different distributors).

But there are other notable actors in this, plus its release was so low key, probably just a dud all around as you say (though I'm still looking forward to seeing this with the cast and I'm interested in films about Ponzi schemes).