Woody Allen’s 49th film has had the lowest opening weekend at the box office in his career. “Rifkin’s Festival,”According to box office sources, Friday and Saturday brought in $24,000 from 26 theaters.
Landmark Theaters is the owner of most theaters that screen the film. Its flagship Los Angeles location was the largest single theater to receive the film’s $2,300 total. Other theaters outside of Landmark’s circuit screening the film include the Quad Theatre in New York City, where the film grossed $1,600 over two days.
By comparison, Allen’s previous film “Wonder Wheel” earned approximately $125,000 from five screens on its 3-day opening weekend in 2017, when the rise of the #MeToo movement brought long-standing allegations by actress Dylan Farrow against Allen — her adoptive father — returned to the public eye. Farrow, whose brother Ronan helped expose Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual assaults in The New Yorker, has accused Allen of molesting her as a child in several interviews as well as in the HBO docuseries “Allen v. Farrow.”He has denied any claims and has never been charged.
Among Allen’s few defenders are the stars of “Rifkin’s Festival,” Wallace Shawn and Gina Gershon, who have asserted their belief in Allen’s innocence, including in a lengthy essay written by Shawn and published by last November.
Critics are sceptical about “Rifkin’s Festival,”This story is about a retired film studies professor who has a relationship with his wife and a publicist. With 60 reviews, the film has received a 43% score from Rotten Tomatoes’ critics and 41% rating from its audience.
“Rifkin’s Festival”It was filmed in summer 2019, but it only has a day and date release. This is because actors and distributors have distanced from Allen, while the COVID-19 pandemic has caused additional delays. MPI Media Group is handling distribution of the film as it did for Allen’s previous film “A Rainy Day in New York,”After #MeToo pressure, Amazon had cancelled a $80 million multifilm production contract with Allen.
“There is no chance any studio is going to work with him,”One producer spoke out last year. “No legit company is going to touch him — he is going to have to work with European financiers for the rest of his life.”
