Zyzzyx Road
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| Zyzzyx Road | |
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| Directed by | John Penney |
| Produced by | Leo Grillo Valerie McCaffrey John Penney Dorian Vernacchio |
| Written by | John Penney |
| Starring | Katherine Heigl Leo Grillo Tom Sizemore |
| Music by | Ryan Beveridge |
| Distributed by | Regent Releasing |
| Release date(s) | February 25, 2006 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,200,000[1] |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Zyzzyx Road is a 2006 independent thriller film. It stars Katherine Heigl, Leo Grillo, and Tom Sizemore. The screenplay was written by John Penney, who also directed the film.
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[edit] Production
Filming took place in the summer of 2005 and lasted 18 days, plus an additional two days for pickup scenes. The film was shot entirely on location in the Mojave Desert, in and around local mines.[2]
[edit] Release and box office gross
Zyzzyx Road lasted only six days in release, from February 25, 2006 through March 2, 2006. The film was released in only one theater, in Dallas, Texas[3].
One of the most widely recognized aspects of Zyzzyx Road is its notably low box office draw.[4] The film is the lowest grossing film of all time, earning just $30 at the box office from exactly six patrons.[5] Unofficially, its opening weekend netted twenty dollars. The ten dollar difference is due to a personal refund by Grillo to makeup artist Sheila Moore, who had worked on the film, and her friend.[1]
The release was purposefully shown for a short amount of time in the single theater, which the producers had rented for $1,000, to fulfill Screen Actors Guild rules that allow a low-budget film to pay actors a lower rate as long as that film is released in the United States. This showing in Texas was to fulfill that obligation without compromising the chances for future nationwide distribution through a distribution company.[1]
The film garnered no attention until a story about it appeared on CHUD.com on December 31, 2006. It was then picked up by Variety, followed The New York Times, NPR, and several other media outlets.[1]
Internationally, the film was released in twenty-three countries and by the end of 2006, had earned about $368,000.[1]
[edit] See also
- Zzyzx, a 2006 film
- Zzyzx, California, home to the similarly-named Zzyzx Road
- Blood Circus, a 1985 film with extremely poor ticket sales
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e Brunner, Rob. "The Strange and Twisted Tale of...The Movie That Grossed $30.00", Entertainment Weekly, #921, February 16, 2007, pp. 46-49.
- ^ Leo Grillo Interview. Katherine Heigl Online (2006-06-10). Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
- ^ Strowbridge, C.S.. "Little Films Hoping to be Big Fish in Limited Release Pond", The Numbers News, Nash Information Services, LLC., 2006-02-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
- ^ Faraci, Devin. "What if they released a movie and nobody came?", CHUD.com, 2006-12-31. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
- ^ Zyzzyx Road (2006). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
