(not including marketing costs). Entertainment Weekly compared the box office gross of The Beaver against Mel Gibson's other most recent "box office failure", 2010's Edge of Darkness—which debuted to a per-theater average of $5,615 at more than 3,000 locations—and the box office success of 2010's Black Swan which grossed a per-theater average of $88,863 in limited release at only 16 theaters. The Beaver was the worst debut for a film directed by Foster. The distributor Summit Entertainment had originally planned for a wide release of The Beaver for the weekend of ; but, after the initial box office returns came in, the company changed course and decided to give the film a "limited art-house run". Michael Cieply of The New York Times observed on June 5, 2011, that the film had cleared about $1 million, making it a certified "flop". The film's director, Foster, said the film did not do well with American audiences because it was a dramedy and "very often Americans are not comfortable with [that]". Before its release, much of the coverage focused on the unavoidable association between the protagonist's issues and Mel Gibson's own well-publicized personal and legal problems, including a conviction of battery of his ex-girlfriend in March. Time magazine wrote: "The Beaver is a somber, sad domestic drama featuring an alcoholic in acute crisis. Sound familiar, almost like a documentary? It’s hard to separate Gibson’s true-life story from what’s happening onscreen." Critical response The Beaver received mixed reviews from critics, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting a score of based on reviews from critics and an average rating of . The consensus reads, "Jodie Foster's visual instincts and Mel Gibson's all-in performance sell this earnest, straightforward movie." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 60 based on 40 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "The Beaver is almost successful, despite the premise of its screenplay, which I was simply unable to accept." References External links 2011 films 2011 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American independent films Emirati comedy films Emirati drama films English-language Emirati films Films about amputees Films about depression Films directed by Jodie Foster Puppet films Casting controversies in film Films produced by Steve Golin Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Participant (company)