"Vamps," the first reunion between Alicia Silverstone and Amy Heckerling since "Clueless," was not supposed to light up the box office: The film was given a courtesy release by Anchor Bay in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 2 -- despite already being available on demand and with a DVD and Blu-ray release on the horizon for Nov. 13. Yet as many box office stories have noted on Monday, the film was an outright flop: "Vamps" earned $500 total, putting the comedy in league with "Oogieloves," "Delgo" and other historic box-office washouts.
Except the "Vamps" opening didn't happen as planned.
Set to screen in New York at the AMC Loews Village 7, the "Vamps" debut was delayed on the East Coast due to Hurricane Sandy. The Village 7 is located on 3rd avenue and 10th street, meaning the theater was without power until sometime on Friday night; the New York premiere of "Vamps" will now happen on Friday.
"Vamps" -- which stars Silverstone and Krysten Ritter as a pair of coming-of-age vampires -- did premiere in Los Angeles on one screen, meaning its total $500 gross came from roughly 12 showings of the film between Friday and Sunday.
Despite the box office ignominy of "Vamps," it's doubtful Heckerling has any regrets. As she told HuffPost Entertainment sister site Moviefone, working with Silverstone again was something she long wanted to do.
"It's not like I said, 'OK, let's sit down and come up with things to work on,'" the director said. "It was always, 'We love each other and we're going to find a way to work again.' But this was the first thing where I was like, 'Oh, I could use Alicia!' We've stayed in touch [since 'Clueless']. I've seen all her plays, she's come to all my films. We're close."
Check out "Vamps" in Los Angeles now. The film opens in New York at the Loews Village 7 on Friday. It's also available on VOD.
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