Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster “Beaver” Struggles to Make A Million Dollars

It’s possible that at this point “The Beaver” won’t make a million bucks domestically. So far it’s taken in less than $700,000. The number of theatres that the Mel Gibson-Jodie Foster calamity is playing in has been reduced now for Memorial Day weekend. On the bright side, according to boxofficemojo.com. “The Beaver” has been a hit in Italy, with $450,000 in ticket sales. I don’t know what this says about the Italians, who I thought were smarter than that. Maybe it’s been a slow spring. Anyway. “The Beaver” cost at least $21 million, not counting prints, publicity, ads, and travel. Not since Kevin Costner’s “The Postman” has money been flushed down the toilet in such an egregious way. From the terrible title (I mean, really, “The Beaver”? Couldn’t they have called it “I’m Your Puppet”? That was a good song) to the whole business of trying to prop up Gibson by exploiting his own personal melodramas, this was a disaster. I guess the producers who put up the money– Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media and a fund out of Abi Dhabi–won’t miss $25 million or so.