'Zyzzyx' earns lowest all-time box office

Domestic cume for 'Road' is $30

By DADE HAYES

'Zyzzyx Road'

In Hollywood's rebound year at the B.O., some films certainly fell a little short. But even the year's biggest bombs surpassed the curiously titled "Zyzzyx Road," whose domestic cume reached just $30. That's no typo. It's the lowest tally for any pic since modern record-keeping began in the 1980s.

The vigilante thriller starring Tom Sizemore, Katherine Heigl and Leo Grillo bore the ominous tagline "Dead Ahead." Like many on the dishonor roll of 60-plus titles cuming less than $1,000 over the past two decades, its stint in a single theater had more to do with contracts or four-wall rentals than mass audience desertion. Unheralded, it opened to $20 in February in Dallas, tacking on an additional 10-spot (repeat biz?) before slinking off to the video shelf.

Lest anyone assume the B.O. basement is reserved for unrated indie fare bound for pay-per-view, it's worth noting a PG-13 Warner Bros. release ranks as the fifth-lowest grosser. "Trojan War," a teen comedy starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Will Friedel (with bonus turns by Lee Majors and Anthony Michael Hall), collected $309 in its entire 1997 run. The director? George Huang, best known for "Swimming With Sharks."