Summer 2023 is undoubtedly an exciting time for movie lovers, thanks to the ‘Barbenheimer‘ phenomenon. Barbenheimer originated as an internet meme involving Barbie and Oppenheimer — two comically contrasting movies — released in theaters on the same day. By the time the films premiered worldwide on July 21st, interest in the phenomenon had generated global interest in attending both movies, breaking countless box office records along the way.
Thanks to good word-of-mouth and marketing through memes, both Barbie and Oppenheimer seem poised to become two of the highest-grossing movies of all time by the end of their run. The phenomenon has come at a desperately-needed time for theaters, which have struggled recently, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic. If similar trends continue, public interest in going out to the movies will be massively re-invigorated.
However, not every film can be so lucky. Many movies flop financially due to a lack of marketing, interest, or positive responses for viewers.
What is the lowest-grossing movie of all time?
You’ve likely heard of the highest-grossing movies of all time, such as Avatar, Titanic, and Avengers. However, the bizarre story of the lowest-grossing movie of all time is much less known.
The 2006 movie Zyzzyx Road, starring Katherine Heigl, is currently the lowest-grossing movie ever made. It is commonplace for indie films with more minor releases to fail to draw in a profit, but Zyzzyx Road scored just $30 against a $1.2 million budget. Ouch.
The immediate question following this fact is, “How is that even possible?”. The film’s minimal run certainly didn’t help. Zyzzyx Road deliberately only played in one theater in Dallas, Texas, and played once a day for one week only. The director, John Penney, deliberately chose a limited US run, as Screen Actors Guild (SAG) rules allow lower wage requirements for actors if an independent film plays in theaters.
It gets worse – at $5 a ticket, only six people attended the entire run of Zyzzyx Road. The director reimbursed $10 of that total as the movie’s makeup artist, Sheila Moore, accompanied a friend — much to the surprise of the movie theater, as no one had been showing up. A bad reception from those who did see it certainly didn’t help, either — and the film currently stands at 23% on Rotten Tomatoes.
After its so-called release, Zyzzyx Road was sent straight to video, both domestically and internationally. Through home purchases and rentals, the movie made a modest $368,000. This is certainly much better than $30, but this could not be counted towards the movie’s box office run.