Shocking Flop: Comedy Film With Famous TV Host Bombs at Box Office!

“Zak, a comic book artist, has been rejecting the memory of his deceased father for 25 years, yet he can’t help but make him the main character of his comics. The idea of having a family is his ultimate nightmare. Thus, his romantic involvements are only with married women who are mothers. That’s when he finds a letter written by his father just before his death, revealing that he might become impotent if he doesn’t become a father before the age of 33.“

This is the plot of the romantic comedy A Very, Very, Very Much in Love Woman, in which the host Nagui starred in 1997 alongside Cristiana Reali, a comedy that has been forgotten and is almost impossible to find today.

After facing criticism for his previous film, The Belly of the World, a drama based on his mother’s story that condemns the misogyny of North African countries through four women’s portraits, director Ariel Zeitoun, feeling hurt, decided to embark on a completely different project this time.

“When I saw women missing the point of the film while criticizing it […], something snapped in my head. The flip side of my feminism spoke up, and I thought these women were lying,” explained the director to BFMTV. Believing that his mother might have also lied, he wrote A Very, Very, Very Much in Love Woman. “All this confused me, and I felt like writing a film about lies. And the lie would be that of the mother.“

Thus, the premise of the film was found: the letter the hero receives supposedly from his father is actually a lie fabricated by his mother to push her son to lead a different life: “It’s the mother of [Zak] who creates a lie. I think we are being manipulated. A Very, Very, Very Much in Love Woman wanted to tell that story. It’s about the manipulation of a naive boy who believes what his mother tells him.“

Mixing genres and aiming to create a “UFO,” the filmmaker even introduces cartoon-style gags into his film, like when the hero is hit on the head with an anvil to signify his shock. He concludes: “A UFO is something that doesn’t belong. So maybe I made a film that didn’t belong.“

Dany Boon or Nagui

To star in his film, Ariel Zeitoun also found his perfect candidate. After seeing Dany Boon on stage, he wanted him for the film, but France Télévisions refused, as the comedian was not well-known enough at the time.

Meanwhile, Nagui showed interest in the project. Despite M6’s doubts about him, Ariel Zeitoun was persuaded: “[Jean Drucker, then managing director of M6] told me: ‘Nagui, are you sure? Because if you’re taking him just because he’s the biggest TV host, then you should take my brother Michel because he’s taller than Nagui!’“

But the director was firm: “For me, Nagui perfectly suited the character, who was indeed very whimsical. And Nagui is just like that.” Although Nagui hesitated, “it’s normal,” continued Ariel Zeitoun. “I had my doubts too.“

However, Nagui surprised the director, and everything fell into place. Yet, things went south as the film’s release approached: the distributors did not like it.

“They told me it wasn’t good, that no one laughed. When they’re not keen on a film, they release it on terrible dates so they can pull it from theaters quickly.“

The failure was then met with harsh reviews: on our site, you can find only two audience reviews, and they talk about “cinematic pollution,” all for a rating of 1.6 out of 5…

In total, only 47,808 people went to the theaters. “It was a real blow to the head. We felt it was unfair,” explained Ariel Zeitoun. “When we learned about the first day’s attendance, we didn’t know what to say. We knew the film would be pulled from theaters the following week. It was a disaster. It was several years going up in smoke all at once. It’s very hard to live with. But well, that’s how it is, we made a mistake.“

And since then, Nagui indeed refuses to talk about it: “I think he doesn’t want to talk about it, but I don’t know why,” said Ariel Zeitoun, still to BFMTV. “He could say he hates it, but at the same time, I understand very well that he says nothing [since he] has moved on from that period when we made the film.“

Second Wind and Disappearance

While the film saw a brief revival at the end of the 1990s on a few TV channels, it is now almost completely unavailable: it is only available on VHS, never having been released on DVD, and it’s not available on streaming or VOD platforms.

Nevertheless, Ariel Zeitoun has no regrets: “Of course, I think there are many things that could have been better, but at the same time, I think it was quite bold. The story is funny, crazy, and tells a lot about male/female relationships that we couldn’t do today. I don’t regret making it. Not at all.“

He even plans to re-release the film on TV this year, as he revealed to BFMTV, having regained the rights to remaster it through EuropaCorp, in order to “bring it back to life a bit.” “I’ve seen worse on TV, so I hope we’ll find some slots.“

So, stay tuned!