Ridley Scott’s next film may very well be coming to a cellphone screen near you — because he has very specific thoughts about why his latest flick, The Last Duel, bombed at the box office!
Despite starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, the Oscar-nominated director’s historical drama only raked in $28 million since its mid-October release — barely making a dent in its production budget of $100 million.
Now, the Alien filmmaker is addressing why he thinks The Last Duel wasn’t able to keep up with its competitors at the box office, and he’s really showing his age in the process!
The 83-year-old began by noting a lack of advertisement isn’t what kept viewers away, sharing:
“Disney did a fantastic promotion job… the bosses loved the movie… I was concerned it was not for them.”
He isn’t kidding. We feel like we saw the ad for that movie so many times we know it by heart. The accusation is false!
So what was the problem then?
According to Ridley, it was because those darn millennials just can’t look away from their cellphones! He mused:
“I think what it boils down to. What we’ve got today the audiences who were brought up on these f**king cellphones. The millennian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone.”
Huh?
He continued:
“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook. This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
We should note: millennials (and Gen Z for that matter, who he probably means) have been showing up for other movies in theaters that aren’t playing on their cellphones. Black Widow, Shang-Chi, F9, A Quiet Place Part II, No Time To Die, and Free Guy all made well over $100M at the box office this year despite the pandemic, and millennials were undoubtedly a big slice of that pie.
Maybe in retrospect a movie about a rape accusation in 14th century France was never going to have the kind of broad, four-quadrant appeal that those other blockbusters had — cellphones or no?
Even though The Last Duel wasn’t the commercial success he hoped it would be, the acclaimed filmmaker still stands by his work. He said:
“We all thought it was a terrific script. And we made it. You can’t win all the time. I’ve never had one regret on any movie I’ve ever made. Nothing. I learned very early on to be your own critic. The only thing you should really have an opinion on is what you just did. Walk away. Make sure you’re happy. And don’t look back. That’s me.”
Don’t look back… except for releasing 17 different cuts of Blade Runner?
For what it’s worth, Scott’s next film, House of Gucci starring Lady GaGa, is expected to be a box office smash AND an awards favorite. You can’t win all the time, but you can sometimes. Maybe even “millennians” will be able to put away their cellphones for two hours and see it!
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