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The Rock Remembers ‘Disastrous’ Response to Southland Tales in 2006

May 25, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Southland Tales The Rock Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5883337h) The Rock Southland Tales - 2006 Director: Richard Kelly Universal USA Scene Still Comedy

The Rock is a big-name film star now, but there was a time that he was far from a box office guarantee. Case in point: Southland Tales. The 2006 film arrived in good shape to be a critical darling, if not a commercial one; it had a highlighy recognized cast in Rock, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake. What’s more, it was directed by indy darling Richard Kelly, who is lauded for his work on Donnie Darko.

Sadly as it turned out, Southland Tales was not fated to be a darling of any kind. The film infamously bombed at Cannes, with “deafening” boos and widespread derision. The film would go on to gross just $374,000 against a budget of $17 million, and Rock recalled the film’s failure in a post to Twitter as you can see below: