By the Sea, the marital melodrama that Angelina Jolie Pitt has directed, wrote and co-stars in, opposite her real life husband Brad Pitt, will open this Friday in 10 theaters in a handful of major cities.
The film’s cost, $10 million, motivated Universal, the studio behind the project, to do so, due to the negative critical reception.
Universal insists that it was always intended to be an homage to European art films, and not a commercial enterprise.
That’s a departure from the previous Jolie-Pitt teaming, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which was one of the biggest hits of 2005, racking up nearly $480 million globally.
Expectations are very low for the new film, which is both precious and pretentious.
Universal had also released Jolie Pitt’ “Unbroken,” which was a critical disappointment, but commercial success, earning $161.4 million at the global box office, most of it in the U.S.