Madonna flop won't be released in home of her director-husband

LONDON -- The movie "Swept Away" has been swept aside in a nation that likes to think of its star, Madonna, as one of its own.

The singer's latest film, directed by her British husband, Guy Ritchie, won't screen at theaters in Britain because it flopped so badly across the Atlantic, its distributor said.

"Following the disappointing box office results in the U.S., Guy Ritchie's 'Swept Away' will not be released theatrically in the U.K.," Columbia Tristar said in a statement.

The film had been scheduled to open in theaters in March, but instead will go straight to video, the company said.

The movie bombed on its release in America last month, taking in $375,000 its first weekend. By contrast, "Red Dragon" raked in $17.6 million the same weekend.

Critics have savaged "Swept Away," in which Madonna plays a spoiled socialite who goes on a Mediterranean cruise and becomes stranded on a deserted island with a sailor she'd tormented on board.

An Associated Press review called it a "cinematic shipwreck."