FIFA just can't seem to win in the United States right now.
First, the U.S. Department of Justice charged nine FIFA officials with racketeering and corruption. And now, Americans add insult to indictments by spending just $607 on United Passions, a film mainly financed by soccer's governing body that purports to educate viewers about FIFA's hallowed history.
Granted: The movie enjoyed a limited weekend release in just 10 U.S. theaters, but even if we assume each theater sold the same number of tickets and each movie-goer went to a $9 matinee (ha!), that means fewer than 70 people across the U.S. chose to check out United Passions on Friday or Saturday. And sadly, that scenario probably would have been more appealing to the film's financiers than the one which actually played out at the FilmBar theater in Phoenix, which reported a weekend gross of just $9 from United Passions. That's a single ticket.
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The Hollywood Reporter notes that United Passions' budget is estimated to have been somewhere between $25 million and $32 million, so FIFA better hope for a late rally of World Cup proportions.
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