This whole Zyzzx Road thing keeps getting weirder and weirder. We picked up on this story via CHUD that Leo Grillo had produced and starred in Zyzzx Road only for the $2million movie to make just $30. Interesting enough, and it became a minor internet phenomenon.

Then Variety picked up on the story, but reported without crediting CHUD, where it originated. CHUD were understandably affronted and Variety printed a semi-apology. And that was that.

Until it wasn’t. Because then Leo Grillo went on NPR (interview here) and not only revealed that Zyzzx Road actually made $20 (two of the six people that saw the film were crew so had their money re-reimbursed) but also that the title was spelled incorrectly. He also mentioned “a little movie” that someone else shot around the same time with the correct spelling, simply titled Zzyzx.

Apparently Zzyzx producer Richard Halpern was annoyed by what he felt was a dismissive reference to his film, as well as the accidental negative publicity that Grillo’s film has deflected towards his own. So he sent Screenhead and other movie websites a press release, with an open challenge to Grillo for what can only be described as a screen-off.

“Ever since Chud.com broke their virally-generated, infamous story about “Zyzzyx Rd.” grossing a measly $30 at the box office, we were inundated with calls and emails about our film from many distributors and industry people, confusing our film, ‘Zzyzx’, with theirs,” says Richard Halpern, producer/director of “Zzyzx.” “Now, the ‘actor/producer’ of the other Zzyzx movie, if you want to call him an actor after watching his performance in the trailer, is ripping our film, which has truly irked me. I have heard rumors about the watch-ability of the other Zzyzx movie and they ain’t pretty.”

Halpern continues, “So, I am offering a duel to the other Zzyzx movie. Let’s put it out there, on Google Video, for the world to see and then decide, whose film is better. Winner gets to keep the movie title, with the losing film’s title being decided by the viewers!” Richard adds, “Heck, our film premiered first as an Ipod downloadable video, selling over 1,000 downloads, so, we are already $2,970 ahead of the other film!”

Not sure if this will happen, but if it does then two low budget thrillers going head to head will be the cinematical equivalent to your local Battle Of The Bands. If the screen-off does go ahead, and Grillo loses, then he should definitely consider changing his title to “the movie that made 30 bucks”. It’s a hell of a lot easier to spell and it’s already famous.
The Zzyzx website is here, and the movie is available in compressed, pixelated Google video format here.