Momentum, a thriller starring Olga Kurylenko and Morgan Freeman, never quite picked up speed, with a disastrous opening weekend in the UK.
The $20m-budget film, about a thief who becomes entangled in a terrorist plot, made just £46 from 10 sites, giving it a screen average of £4.60 per cinema. It screened in various regional locations, including Kidderminster, Hull and Morecambe. It was given a simultaneous digital release.
Momentum received largely negative reviews and has a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Empire’s Ali Plumb called it “one of the worst films you won’t see in 2015”, while the Observer’s Mark Kermode referred to it as “utter pants” in his one-star review.
Its director, Stephen Campanelli, worked alongside Clint Eastwood for 20 years as a camera operator on films such as Million Dollar Baby and American Sniper. “I did three movies with Morgan [while I was] a camera operator, and we’ve gotten along very well,” Campanelli told Geekscape. “We’ve become like friends, and he said to me, ‘When you get a movie and you get to direct it, if you have a role for me, I’d love to do it.’ Then this came out and I read the part of the senator’s role and I went, ‘Oh my God, Morgan would be perfect for this.’”
Freeman, curiously, does not appear in any of the film’s marketing, which included underground posters in London.
Momentum was conceived as the start of a new franchise with an open-ended finale that sets the film up for a sequel. “I don’t want to give away too much, but I definitely have some ideas for these people,” Campanelli said. “And Olga is excited. She’s really hoping this movie does well, because she really wants to do a sequel, too.”
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