Comically awful Watching United Passions, the Fifa biopic and box-office flop, 10 years on

Here are movies that bomb at the box office. And then there is the Fifa biopic United Passions, starring Tim Roth, Sam Neill and Gérard Depardieu, which was hit with the cinematic equivalent of a thermonuclear strike when it opened in the US 10 years ago this week.

- Sean Ingle

Here are movies that bomb at the box office. And then there is the Fifa biopic United Passions, starring Tim Roth, Sam Neill and Gérard Depardieu, which was hit with the cinematic equivalent of a thermonuclear strike when it opened in the US 10 years ago this week. You might remember the fallout; the fact it took only $918 (£678) in its opening weekend, making it the lowest-grossing film in US history at the time, and the stories detailing how two people bought tickets to see it in Philadelphia, and only one in Phoenix, before it was pulled by distributors.

Then there were the reviews. "As cinema it is excrement," Jordan Hoffman wrote in the Guardian. "As proof of corporate insanity it is a valuable case study. United Passions is a disgrace." Admittedly, there was never going to be a good time to launch 109 minutes of soft-sheen history and propaganda about Jules Rimet, João Havelange and Sepp Blatter. But when 14 Fifa members were indicted on corruption charges just days before the $26m (£19m) film's US release, the film became a byword for excess.

The 10-year anniversary seemed like the perfect time for me to grit my teeth and watch United Passions for the first time. I also hoped that those involved might have got over their collective embarrassment and would be prepared to talk about it. Was it really the worst sports movie in history? Worse than Rocky V?