Shia LaBeouf‘s newest movie Man Down details the life of an American soldier after being discharged to find his home in the US just as traumatic as the war he came from. At it’s premiere in the UK, it apparently sold just one ticket.
After its first week however, Variety confirms the movie managed to “triple the number of general-public paid admissions in Britain – from one ticket sold to three.”
At least one person showed interest in Shia LaBeouf’s new movie, Man Down as ticket sales grossed $11.50 in it’s first week in the UK.
Financial gloom aside, has the war movie missed the mark on creating a social conversation on real life veteran’s experiences?
During the weekend of its premiere in the UK, Man Down racked up just one ticket sale which Variety confirms from ComScore has now tripled to a total of three.
It also premiered in December last year in the US at limited cinemas earning a much bigger $454,490.
LaBeouf plays a marine soldier scarred with PTSD, returning home to a post-apocalyptic America . The movie also features Kate Mara as his wife and Gary Oldman as his military psychiatrist.
LaBeouf told the Hollywood Reporter the film was “theraputic” for him and came at “just the right time” when he was at a “really low place.”
A review in the Sydney Morning Herald snubs the movie, saying “as the credits rolled, I can imagine that solitary viewer in Burnley might’ve requested a refund” and suggests the movie fails to provide any positive progression towards the healing and recognition of real life war experiences.
“A ticker at the end of the film solemnly informs us that ‘1 in 5 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are diagnosed with PTSD’, as though the film just honoured their struggle, rather than exploiting it for cheap movie thrills.”
While he may not have made a huge impression in the UK, he certainly did at the Opera House as part of Bingefest and hosting his own anti-Trump movement titled #HeWillNotDivideUs.
