Ridley Scott is no stranger to films that underperform at the box office. Hell, one of his most famous films, “Blade Runner,” is often thought of as a box office bomb. But rarely does one of Scott’s features do as poorly as this year’s “The Last Duel,” which carried a reported $100 million budget and has only earned $27.5 million worldwide. And the filmmaker doesn’t think it has anything to do with the film itself. Instead, he blames millennials.
Speaking on the WTF podcast (via IGN), Ridley Scott talked about the reasons he believed “The Last Duel” was such a terrible performer at the box office.
“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cellphones,” said Scott. “The millennian [sic] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone.”
He added, “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.”
For those who haven’t seen the film, “The Last Duel” is a historical epic starring Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. As the title suggests, the film tells the story of two men who face off in a deadly duel to settle a disagreement. Many thought the film would not only be a box office hit (or at least do better than it has) but also could be an Oscar contender.
While Scott does admit that he was “concerned” the film wouldn’t sit well with the folks at Disney (the 20th Century Studios subsidiary released “The Last Duel”), the filmmaker said that “Disney did a fantastic promotion job.” So, really, it must be the millennials, right?