<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The biggest </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/melania-trump-box-office-bomb-session-times-australia-usa-politics-news/83eb9bc0-fd79-4667-bba5-6caef958fcab" rel="" target="" title="box office flop"><span>box office flop</span></a><span> of all time had its </span><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/wuthering-heights-australian-premiere-mecca-rhode-launch-pandemonium-in-sydney-cbd/ca51ac3a-d601-4d52-acdc-dfe9e3d3b05a" rel="" target="" title="cinematic premiere"><span>cinematic premiere</span></a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="February 25, 2006"><span>February 25, 2006</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Zyzzyx Road</span></em><span> opened at the Highland Park Village in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/texas" rel="" target="" title="Dallas, Texas"><span>Dallas, Texas</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The producer had paid the cinema $US1000 to screen the movie at noon every day for a week.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-september-23-what-happened-on-this-day-charade-copyright-error/5df60beb-3ff9-454d-9e4f-607c0cf081f8" rel="" target="" title="Tiny oversight cost beloved movie its copyright"><strong><span>Tiny oversight cost beloved movie its copyright</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And despite the cheap $5 tickets, it grossed just $30, meaning only six people went to see it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two of those tickets were sold to the film's makeup artist and her friend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the film's star, Leo Grillo, felt so sorry she had paid money to see it that he gave her the money back.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-25-what-happened-on-this-day-zyzzyx-road/a4c4cbcd-5d42-4ecd-8625-cb9343c93178" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was a logical reason for the film screening in just one cinema for just one week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Under union rules, there were minimum actor salaries for straight-to-DVD movies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But if the film had a cinema release, the producers could pay the actors less. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In spite of the skimpy salaries, they managed to cast two big-name actors for the movie.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-5-what-happened-on-this-day/fd3ab70d-3622-47b7-bd02-b11bdf46e5f5"><strong><span>Comedy taken off air mid-episode after just ten minutes</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/katherine-heigl" rel="" target="" title="Katherine Heigl"><span>Katherine Heigl</span></a><span> agreed to make the film in 2004, before her star-making turn on </span><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/jeffrey-dean-morgan-greys-anatomy-scene-denny-duquette-cant-watch-20-years-later/b0cb3631-a24f-443b-8bed-94ae94b7394a" rel="" target="" title="Grey's Anatomy"><em><span>Grey's Anatomy</span></em></a><span> the following year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two weeks before the release of </span><em><span>Zyzzyx Road</span></em><span>, Heigl was at the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/golden-globes-2026-nominations-revealed/289c7745-38bc-487d-8b28-e4952e30a4c3" rel="" target="" title="Golden Globes as a nominee"><span>Golden Globes as a nominee</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her following movie, </span><em><span>Knocked Up</span></em><span>, made more than $200 million at the box office.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/tom-sizemore-death-saving-private-ryan-star-dies-following-brain-aneurysm/0edbddf6-1bc6-4a18-8122-e20f06add03c" rel="" target="" title="actor Tom Sizemore"><span>actor Tom Sizemore</span></a><span> was at a low ebb in his career thanks to his drug addiction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Already on probation, he had been arrested for possession. Luckily for the filmmakers, he was allowed to finish his scenes in the movie.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/today-in-history-february-8-what-happened-on-this-day/8f3f20f8-a98a-4100-9617-b4b8c1bde5c3"><strong><span>Crowd gasps as Julie Andrews takes revenge in acceptance speech</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Zyzzyx Road</span></em><span> is a thriller with a supernatural element to it. Filmed over 20 days and for a budget of US$1.2 million, it was very much done on the cheap.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It has been reported that despite selling just six tickets, it ended up making a profit on DVD sales.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is not to be confused with </span><em><span>Zzyzx</span></em><span>, another thriller released just three weeks earlier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both movies are thrillers set on the same remote road in the desert outside of Las Vegas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-11-what-happened-on-this-day/480a64c6-3aa8-4a2d-bdf6-05264c3c3b34" target="" title="Thirty million people die after ill-fated war on sparrows"><strong><span>Thirty million people die after ill-fated war on sparrows</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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