Sometimes a motion picture isn’t a person’s cup of tea. Judging by the current British box office results (HELLO BEAN 5: THE DREAM CHILD), the latest Shia LeBeouf film was only one person’s cup of tea in all of the United Kingdom.
Man Down, a war drama starring LeBeouf and directed by A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints filmmaker Dito Montiel, managed to earn an anti-miraculous £7 (a shade under $9 U.S.) in the U.K. According to the film insiders we spoke to, films are traditionally expected to sell upwards of multiple tickets, so this must be a bit of disappointment.
In LeBeouf’s defense, the box office total is a little bit misleading. For one, The Guardian notes that the film only played at the Reel Cinema in Burnley. Not quite a Fate of the Furious level release, now is it? Also, Man Down made its debut ages ago. (Well, ages ago in movie terms, the film premiered in 2015.) The buzz attached to the film was not a good buzz. More like the buzz of insects around dog doo. LeBeouf’s performance got alright enough reviews, but the movie was panned at large by critics.
Man Down was definitely a flop, but it’s not like this movie was built to be a mega blockbuster, especially in the UK market. For cast members like Jai Courtney, Kate Mara and Gary Oldman they got a paycheque out of the deal and LeBeouf is doing a lot of different projects and seems happy to take risks. If someone’s going to wear the £7 box office crown, Shia LeBeouf is likely to have more fun with it.
(Via The Guardian)
