The sad box-office fate of Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel,” an engaging medieval epic, has startled some in the industry as the end of some kind of era in moviegoing. The fact that, despite strong word of mouth, the film failed to ignite the box-office represents a depressing account of today’s moviegoing reality.
The film barely made $10 million at the U.S. box office and ended its run with $27 million globally. All of this on a budget of $100 million. Why was the film such a bomb? Scott shared his resentment towards millennials and cellphones during a recent interview on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast:
“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones,” Scott said. “The millennian, [who] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cell phone…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.”
Here was an original film, not a blockbuster or sequel, that had star wattage (Affleck, Damon, Driver), becoming a box-office bomb. Despite good reviews (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) and excellent audience scores (7.7 on IMDB), what “The Last Duel” represents is another nail in the coffin for major-studio films designed for seasoned adult audiences.
Do I still believe “The Last Duel” can nab a Best Picture nomination? You bet. Just as long as enough Academy voters see it. The film finished 7th in my Twitter/Facebook poll of the best films of the year so far.
Marvel's X-Men reboot keeps stacking bodies. Asa Germann — familiar to anyone who watched “Gen V” or sat through “Scream 7 “— is reportedly closing a deal to play Warren Worthington III, better known as Angel.