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Ridley Scott is justifiably admired by film fans and critics alike. The British director is responsible for landmark movies. You may have heard of them. Movies such as Alien (1979) and its iconic blend of horror and sci-fi. The seminal Blade Runner (1982), which starred Harrison Ford as the titular character hunting down cyborgs known as replicants. He was responsible for the box office hit The Martian, based on a novel by Andy Weir, which starred the amiable Matt Damon. But Scott hasn't been so amiable recently.
The 83-y💖ear-old is unhappy with the performance of The Last Duel, which came out in theatres in mid-October. Starring Matt Damon and Adam Driver, who play knights in medieval France, The Last Duel tells a complicated tale in three parts, as one of the men is accused of rape.
The movie features rising British actress Jodie Comer as Marguerite, the wife to Matt Damon's knight Jean de Carrouges, who accuses Adam Driver's squire, Jacques Le Gris, of rape, which he denies. There is also political intrigue and Ben Affleck has a supporting role as Count Pierre d'Alençon. The story is based on a real event, notable as it was the last officially recognised judicial duel fought in France. As you might expect from the movie's name, there is some duelling involved.
The Last Duel bombed however. The movie cost $100 million but took in only $27 million worldwide, at the box office. Perhaps this poor performance was pandemic related, as movie-goers still might be hesitant to return to cinemas. Maybe it was something to do with timing. It could be down to the movie's heavy subject matter, or length (2.5 hours), or simply that many didn't even know the movie existed perhaps due to inadequate marketing. But Ridley Scott has decided to blame millennials and their smartphone habits.
The Academy Award-winning director was speaking on when he made the comments. Explaining the movie's awful box office performance, Scott chalked it up to the supposedly waning attention spans of millennials. “I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cellphones. The millennian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone,” Scott said.
“This is a broad stroke, but I♐ think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” Scott continued, per the . “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, ꦦI think.”
Scott told Maron that he was initially concerned that 20th Century - the Fox studio acquired by Disney in 2017 - would under market his movie, but this didn't happen. "Disney did a fantastic promotion job. The bosses loved the movie ... I was concerned it was not for them," Scott said, on the podcast. The director stood by his movie, however, and was satisfied with the decisions that had been made. “That’s the call you make,” he said, talking about the process in getting The Last Duel made. “That’s the call Fox made. We all thought it was a terrific script. And we made it. You can’t win all the time."
Ridley Scott has another big movie coming out soon, the biopic House of Gucci, which stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, which will be in cinemas this week. Here's hoping millennial attention spans can extend to this one.