12 Movies That Were Dead On Arrival

Films about association football tend not to fare so well, but a film about the governing administrative body of association football? Well, that’s surely got “hit” written all over it. An unedifying puff piece exclusively starring actors who don’t want to be there, United Passions was only ever going to be a disaster.

Starring a self-loathing Tim Roth as former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, United Passions is an attempt to paint Blatter as the saviour of football executives, an anti-corruption trailblazer determined to clear up the mistakes of his predecessors. That Blatter was himself under investigation which ultimately unseated him is no coincidence - this was a cloth eared attempt to change public perception of his time in the hot seat. The word did not spread far, as the film cleared under $200,000.

The last word must go to Roth, whose review of his own work - “this is a role that will have my father turning in his grave” is about as lacerating a critique as you could hope to receive. The film was a financial necessity for the actor at the time, but he’d prefer that we speak of it no longer.