A Deadline report claims that David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” had net losses of $108 million. That is a devastating blow for not just 20th Century but Russell himself.
The New Regency-financed film had its budget shoot up from $50M to $80M during COVID. It also featured a massive all-star cast including Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, John David Washington, Taylor Swift, Chris Rock, Anya-Taylor Joy and Rami Malek, to name a few.
Actors want to work with Russell, and some even worked for scale on “Amsterdam,” including Bale who ended up pocketing a $5 million salary.
Russell’s directed many actors who wound up with Oscar nominations over the years and, no doubt, when “Amsterdam” got greenlit, that was probably the end goal.
But “Amsterdam” was also, sadly, not that great of a movie. Of course, it wasn’t as bad as critics were making it out to be either — a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes is unfairly low for what is essentially a well-made, and well-acted affair.
Audiences were fairly mezzo-mezzo when it came to “Amsterdam”, but they didn’t hate it either: The film currently has a 6.2 IMDB user rating and a 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
There’s however already a nice little reappraisal going on for “Amsterdam,” which we all figured would get bashed by critics last September. Russell was already a targeted man due to past behavior.
Some critics are starting to come out of the woods defending “Amsterdam.” That’s nice to see. Russell didn’t deserve the absolute hate he got for this film.
West Coast critic Glenn Heath Jr. is saying that “American critics are going to wake up in 10 years and realize they missed a big one here. I'm astonished by its effortless speed and charisma. A true throwback.” That’s quite the prediction. Sight and Sound’s Ryan Swen agreed.
Writer-Director Matthew Wilder had recently emailed me his positive words for “Amsterdam” as well, he’s a big fan, and added that “in a sane world, Margot Robbie would get an Oscar nod for AMSTERDAM and not for BABYLON”.
Richard Brody also seems to believe “Amsterdam” will age very well. He’s very much a part of the aforementioned revisionist movement for the film and even hinted that it would make his best of 2022 list. Ditto Rolling Stone’s David Fear who describes the film as a “radical act” courtesy of Russell.
“Amsterdam” is currently available on VOD.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.