The Film in Context

'The Book of Revelation' was released in 2006.

Some of the top grossing films of the same year were:

Casino Royale (2006)

Superman Returns (2006)

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

It is fair to deduct that a dramatic art film about a dancer who is abducted by three women is not going to make a lot of money, compared to these big action blockbusters. Other films that fall under the same arthouse/drama category of 'The Book of Revelation' released that year were:

Catch a Fire (2006)

Babel (2006)

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Little Children (2006)

Good German, The (2006)

Obviously this list could go on. The films mentioned were still smaller than the films in the first blockbuster list, but they all featured what is commonly known as 'bankable stars'. Each film in this list starred at least one extremely well known Hollywood actor. This is another factor that makes it hard for a film like 'The Book of Revelation' to be commercially successful, when it has so much overbearing competition.

Lastly, I think it's worth comparing 'The Book of Revelation' to some of the other Australian films that were released in 2006:

Happy Feet (2006)

Jindabyne (2006)

Kenny (2006)

Kokoda (2006)

Last Train to Freo (2006)

Ten Canoes (2006)

Most of the target audiences for the films mentioned fall into a specific catchment. The very successful 'Happy Feet' is a children/family film. (It is also worth mentioning that almost the entire voice cast was made up of well known American actors). 'Kenny' is a comedy aimed at a large audience. 'Kokoda' is a war film that is, again, aimed at a large audience. 'Last Train to Freo', while dramatic, still partly falls under the thriller genre, and therefore has an almost guaranteed decent sized viewing audience of people that enjoy that kind of film. 'Ten Canoes' and 'Jindabyne' are not necessarily largely popular films, but they do deal with Aboriginal culture, which is something that is important and relevant to all Australians. This almost guarantees them a decent sized viewing audience. They were both also very critically successful.

'The Book of Revelation', however, is not a conventional story in any way. While a film like 'Jindabyne' was very confrontational and thought provoking, it didn't even come close to being as challenging as 'The Book of Revelation'. It also starred Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney, two foreign actors that are very well known worldwide.

Just by showing the explicit sex and nudity alone, 'The Book of Revelation' has made its audience quiet small. On top of that it is an unresolved film. There is no tidy ending. I really enjoy this kind of film, but I think figures will show that most people don't. We are lucky in Australia that, despite the fact that it is not going to be hugely successful commercially, films like this are still being made.

All film release dates were obtained from www.imdb.com.