Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Ridley Scott. Image Source: American Post
Ben Affleck's latest movie, "The Last Duel," was recently released and although it received a mixed response from the audience, the movie did not do well at the box office, unfortunately. The makers and the actors had a lot of expectations from the movie but it did not manage to capture the attention of the audience due to unknown reasons.
Ben spoke to The Hollywood Reporter where he clarified the comment made by Ridley Scott about the movie not working as expected by the filmmaker and the cast. There is a video that has gone viral where the 84-year-old director is seen commenting on a journalist who was commenting about the film the director had made. The journalist said, "It’s a very realistic film. It looks more realistic than "The Kingdom of Heaven" or "Robin Hood" if you’re talking about—, before Ridley cut him off and said, "Sir, fuck you." Fuck you. Thank you very much. Fuck you. Go fuck yourself, sir. "Go on.
During Marc Maron’s "WTF" podcast, Ridley Scott was asked about why "The Last Duel" was such a bomb at the box office, to which the director replied, "I think what it boils down to is—what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones. The millennials, who will never be taught anything unless you tell them over the 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 that has given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think". Commenting further about the movie and being proud of it, the director added, "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. I’ve never had one single regret about any movie I’ve ever made. Nothing. I learned very early on to be your critic. The only thing you should have an opinion on is what you just did. Walk away. Make sure you’re happy. And don’t look back. That’s me. "
Talking about the same, Ben Affleck, in his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, said that Ridley Scott’s sayings are slightly misquoted. He further clarified, "I mean, let’s be honest, who hasn’t wanted to say that in a press junket? Ridley is at the stage in his career where he’s completely unencumbered by concerns about what people think".
Ben Affleck in 'The Last Duel'. Image Source: Code List
Sharing his side of the story of why the movie did not work at the box office, Ben Affleck mentioned, "Really, the truth is that I’ve had movies that didn’t work that bombed, that weren’t good. It’s very easy to understand why that happened. The movie is shit; people don’t want to see it, right? This movie, "The Last Duel," I like. It’s good, and it plays—I saw it play with audiences, and now it’s playing well on streaming. It wasn’t one of those films that you say, "Oh boy, I wish my movie had worked." Instead, this is more due to a seismic shift that I’m seeing, and I’m having this conversation with every single person I know. Though there are various iterations, the conversation is the same: "How is [the movie business] changing?"
The actor further added to the comment, "One of the fundamental ways it’s changing is that the people who want to see complicated, adult, non-IP dramas are the same people who are saying to themselves, ‘You know what? I don’t need to go out to a movie theater because I’d like to pause it, go to the bathroom, and finish it tomorrow. ’ It’s that, along with the fact that you can watch it with good quality at home. And you know what? I knew it was changing before the pandemic hit with The Way Back. I remember feeling like, "Shit, I love this movie, and no one’s going to see it." I could tell it wasn't going to make it to the big screen. People don’t want to go see dramas. Then the pandemic hit, and ironically, one of the first few films that were rushed to streaming was The Way Back, and people did see it. I said, "You know what? This isn’t bad. ’ I would rather have people see this and watch it, and I don’t need to be stuck in the old ways [of doing business].
Ben Affleck said in his interview with The Playlist that the result he witnessed of "The Last Duel" has made him think that the movie is probably the last theatrical release he’ll have because he does not want to do IP movies anymore where you have this sort of built-in audience. He added, "That’s something I was interested in and liked, and I just don’t like it anymore. I like other people who do it. And if you are going to do it, you should love it. And I love something different. So, I want to do that".
The actor, whose latest movie, 'The Tender Bar', is scheduled to be released on Amazon on December 17th, 2021, following its wide expansion on December 22, 2021, before streaming on Prime Video on January 7, 2022. Ben added, "The theatrical experience is great. I love the theatrical experience, but the business has changed over time. First, it was vaudeville, then silent pictures, then talkies, then color, and then the radio came out, and everybody said it was going to kill movies. When TV came out, everybody said it would kill movies. Every time it’s the same, people watch stories that move them in different ways [on different platforms]. I think that’s OK. The good news is—and I don’t have the numbers in front of me right now—I would strongly guess that people are watching more [content] now, and consuming more. So, that’s a good thing, and one of the reasons for it is that streamers are doing such great stuff. I mean, the content is spectacular. Succession? Spectacular! Ozark? Spectacular! There are probably two or three directors, people like Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino, who have people saying, "OK, I’m going to see two or three movies in the theater this year. I’ll go see theirs." I think you’re going to see 40 movies at least [released] each year now."
Ben Affleck, who is nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Tender Bar, last added, "I think you have to adapt to the times, or you risk becoming a dinosaur, as my children tell me."
Information Source: The Hollywood Reporter
