John Oliver laughs at FIFA's self-financed vanity-film flop, United Passions

John Oliver laughs at FIFA's big self-financed biopic flop
(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

If timing is everything in Hollywood, FIFA caught a tough break when the glowing FIFA movie it largely financed opened just days after the U.S. charged nine FIFA executives with corruption and racketeering, forcing the resignation of FIFA's powerful president, Sepp Blatter. And testing the adage that no publicity is bad publicity, the film, United Passions, brought in only about $900 in its U.S. opening weekend. On Sunday's Last Week Tonight, noted soccer fan and FIFA hater John Oliver enjoyed a minute (and four seconds) of schadenfreude.

"The reviews so far have been phenomenal," Oliver said, and he didn't mean that in a good way. You can watch Oliver's brief victory dance on FIFA's cinematic grave below, but be warned there is one slightly salty joke thrown in. Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.