George Clooney in Anton Corbijn The American
George Clooney's The American, about a professional killer who develops a troubled conscience while in Italy, may turn out to be a late-summer bomb if figures don't improve dramatically over Labor Day weekend.
At the top spot on the North American box-office chart, The American collected only $1.67m at 2,721 locations, averaging a paltry $615 per theater, according to Box Office Mojo.
In recent years, Clooney's pull at the domestic box office hasn't exactly been stellar, chiefly as a result of the actor's decision to appear in "movies with a message," e.g., Syriana, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Michael Clayton.
In fact, Clooney's last major blockbuster was Ocean's Eleven back in 2001 — the caper flick grossed $183.4m (not adjusted for inflation) — and that was a group effort (Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc.).
In the last five years, only one George Clooney vehicle has grossed more than $100m in the US/Canada, Ocean's Thirteen (2007), itself not only a group effort but also the weakest performer in the Ocean's franchise, with $117.1m in revenues.
The good news is that The American has already outperformed The Good German, which took in $1.3m in 2006. That bad news is that it'll face an uphill battle to reach the (modest) take of Good Night, and Good Luck., Leatherheads, or The Men Who Stare at Goats, all of which ended their domestic runs within the $30m-$32m range.
Directed by Anton Corbijn, The American was adapted by Rowan Joffe from Martin Booth's novel A Very Private Gentleman. Violante Placido plays Clooney's love interest in the film, which has received mixed reviews in the North American media.
Photo: The American (Giles Keyte / Alliance Atlantis)
It's on par to make $16 this holiday weekend. Another Fox flop. There will be no sequels.
We (three seniors) go to the movies every week and all three of us discovered (after the fact) that we should have left within 20 minutes or less of viewing it. The only thing going for it was the fact that it captured your curiosity in discovering what the target was (which after total frustration throughout the movie) you never did find out – what was going to be published in the "Tribune" the next day. Maybe this was the intent, but I am totally disappointed with the main actor (name not to be mentioned) with the demeaning of sex, America and humanity. Yes, we should have left at the beginning, but I'll give the makers credit they did "catch your curiosity". I hope this isn't leading up to a sequel, because if it is I'll be sure not to see it. Poor "main actor" he must be very desperate for funds to have resorted to being in this film! Thank you for your time.