Kevin Spacey’s latest (or, indeed, should that be last?) film took just £96 on its first day at the box office, after opening in just 10 cinemas across the US. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this suggests that fewer than two people per cinema bought tickets on its opening day.
Billionaire Boys Club, also starring Ansel Elgort and Taron Egerton, was the last film that Spacey acted in before the sexual harassment allegations came to the surface. Vanity Fair critic, Richard Lawson, stated that the film would have been “forgettable dreck” anyway, but a scene in which Spacey’s character hits on the younger male actors is “intensely strange.”
The US distributor of the film was criticized after releasing a statement saying that they “hope these distressing allegations pertaining to one person’s behaviour – that were not publicly known when the film was made almost 2.5 years ago – do not tarnish the release.”
Kevin Spacey rose to prominence in the 1990s, winning two Oscars: Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and Best Actor for the artsy suburban drama American Beauty (1999). He also was the main character in the acclaimed series House of Cards, which Netflix have since fired him from.
Kevin Spacey fell from grace when, on October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey said that he “did not remember” the incident. Since then, 30+ men have accused him of sexual harassment or assault. The 59 year old actor denies all accusations of assault.
Words by Steph Green