Jodie Foster’s The Beaver, starring Mel Gibson, has had the kind of publicity that most arthouse films only dream of — thanks to Gibson’s polarizing behavior.
But that buzz failed to deliver. The film, in which Foster also stars, opened this weekend to a disappointing $104,000 from 22 theaters in top markets. The per-screen average — the standard by which limited releases are judged — was only $4,745.
Summit was hoping for a per-screen average in the $15,000 to $18,000 range.
“I think people will try to read into these numbers and say it is a repudiation of Mel, but I don’t think that’s true,” Summit executive Richie Fay said. “The film is a tough sell.”
Full story: Mel Gibson’s ‘The Beaver’ soft in box office debut