Gods of Egypt Director Blames Critics For Box Office Failure

[Dalisclock]

I'm surprised he didn't just go full out and say it wasn't for critics.

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/24/the-adventures-of-twisp-and-catsby

 

[Dalisclock]

This is what you get when you mix the mummy, transformers, clash of the titans, ancient aliens. The main guy's girlfriend has some nice boobs though.

I feel this could become a classic years from now.

That sounds like it could be a good bad movie. Just ad Rifftraks and get high and see if it gets better.

 

[Mikeybb]

I guess we don't have much in the way of European sensibilities over where I'm from.
That is to say, technically Europe (though some people are working on that status.)
We generally thought M.Night's Avatar movie was bloody awful too.

I do feel sorry for the director of this movie.
Not for the failure of the feature.
It's fairly evident that was going to be the case from both trailers and word of mouth.
I know for one my interest in this movie was zero.
Maybe it was overshadowed by the looming presence of Deadpool in the schedule, but as a movie "gods" didn't grab me at all.

The sympathy comes from the fact that to react the way he has, he must have been really wrapped up in the project to the point that he genuinely believed it was a far better production than it actually was.
This isn't a justification for whatever ranting is going to ensue, of course.
It's just got to hurt some when you invest that amount of your life and energy into something all the while believing it to be your very best work and something which others will praise you for, only to be faced by reactions ranging from dismissal to derision.

Of course, such things aren't a reason to be immune from a critical savaging, but on a personal level I just find myself thinking about how the guy has got to be feeling.

 

[RaikuFA]

I did not see it cause it looked like abother CGI wankfest. A movie made for the sole purpose of showing off CGI

 

[P. K. Qu'est Que Ce]

People talk about Shyamalan like he's a joke, and he is, but he's a rich joke. Most of his films were either profitable, for extremely profitable. That includes a lot of the films you and I, and the critics just despised, like Shyamalan's Avatar which did hugely well internationally.

 

[MCerberus]

He's gone full shyamalan. Never go full shyamalan.

Never the less, I have a counter theory for the good director: people are tired of CG wank without any new ideas that missed the boat of cultural relevance by... oh how long has it been since 300?

Shyamalan dissed critics?

Lady in the Water

 

[Metalrocks]

People say the movie looks like shit, but honestly for me it seems 10 times more interesting than the shit that DiCaprio got an Oscar for. The Revnant is a -9/10 easily. Worst movie of the year. I don't see this being as bad. Funny how he got an Oscar for this shit but not for some of the other movies.

Also he's right about the part where reviewers bring in social politics for no other reason than to trash talk and get some bonus points while stroking their ego on how progressive they are.

maybe because the revenant is a damn good movie and dicaprio did an amazing job since it was not a set he had to interact with. i think you miss the concept of the survival theme in the wilderness in this movie. certainly not for everyone, some even said that castaway is bad because they could not comprehend the survival theme.

but this gods of egypt movie looks bad just alone from the trailers. CD riddled mess with fancy action that may look good visually but story wise has nothing to offer and the acting is cheesy as well.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I can't say I'm surprised. The premise of the movie felt like it was lifted straight off of a twelve year-old's Creative Writing assignment.

"Why Egyptian Gods Fighting Would Be Super Cool for a Movie Scenario: An Essay"

I can imagine the brainstorming and scriptwriting sessions involved a lot of mouth noises standing in for lasers or energy blasts, plus the occasional "And then Horus goes and does something that's TOTALLY EPIC, bro!"

I mean, I love Egyptian mythology as much as the next guy and I ate up the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies as a kid and early teen, but this is more than a little too much.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't think it looks awful, it looks awfully bland. No real substance to the film beyond "look Gods fighting!!" CGI porn. Might be a decent popcorn flick, turn off the brain and watch the pretty animation but beyond that its got no soul. Then again the CGI didn't look all that great in trailers and there was nothing that caught my eye. Hard to believe the same guy who made two of my favorite flicks did this, but then again Ridley Scott has made some terrible flicks in recent years as well so... there's that.

I dunno, man. It didn't even look good enough to be a popcorn flick for me. I have nothing against popcorn flicks. This just looked dull.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I loved Dark City. That was a long time ago. This movie here literally came out of nowhere, being advertised on TV in my area practically only the week prior to release with no fanfare. Judging from this and a general lack of any further news regarding it apart form this (I obviously didn't see it) I'd say it is going back to the nowhere from whence it came.

Perhaps he should have stayed at Shell Beach.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Every time I hear a movie bigshot say "it's because of critics that my movie didn't do well", I interpret it as "if the critics didn't tell moviegoers how bad my movie is, more people might've bought tickets before word got out!".

 

[BeeGeenie]

Really? Because I thought "NOTHING CONFIRMS RAMPANT STUPIDITY FASTER" than watching the trailer for this piece of garbage. If it failed at the box office, then my faith in humanity is restored.

 

[Strazdas]

Edit: Its funny how in gaming we do the opposite, we blame critics for over-rating games all the time, going so far as to even make elaborate bribery schemes, meanwhile in movies it seems to be the opposite.

Incredibly mediocre action movie. Kind of like a modern day Scorpion King.

the real question then is: is it so corny and badly made like Scorpion King that it turns into amazing spoof comedy? or is it just bad?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

So Proyas has resorted to conspiracy theories and not getting his facts straight. The Crow and Dark City were critically well-received despite being box office disappointments, but due to Proyas' unique flair they gained a proper cult following. Though it is intriguing how Proyas' filmography is littered with a couple of films that were flukes by hacks and now just plain hacks (seriously, the guys who wrote Gods of Egypt haven't a single decent movie to their name).

The thing is the film actually has this cool, bizarre setting with stuff like the Earth being a flat disc with the land of the living on one side and the land of the dead on the other that really brings to mind the actual myths in the Egyptian pantheon. Unfortunately they just wrap it up in a basic action film that does nothing and is an utter mess. Which is what really kills Proyas as this really is him being mediocre as he's now doing rote entertainment as opposed to anything with some brains behind it.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

Well I do agree that critics can be self indulgent pricks who are full of shit, but reacting like this does little to prove them wrong.

 

[MeatMachine]

"My movie did not deserve to do bad, it only did bad because loads of people said it was bad and deserved to do bad."

What.

 

[Cryselle]

Gods of Egypt didn't fail because of critics, it failed because it simply didn't have a hook that made people think "I want to see that!" There are plenty of critically panned movies that are a success, and frankly, there are a lot of critical darlings out there that are pretty terrible movies. (Then again, I came out of 'Up' wanting a few hours of my life back, so perhaps my tastes don't mesh with the public well)

Thing is, most people decide if they're interested in something very shortly after they're first introduced to it. Anyone who knows anything about marketing knows just how important that first impression is, and how critical it is that when the audience sees your trailer for the first time, they are interested in seeing more of it. Gods of Egypt failed there, long before any critical responses were even penned. When people talked about the trailer at all, it was to make fun of it, and most people I hang out with just shrugged their shoulders and forgot it existed. The critics could have penned a review that the movie was so good the entire audience had an orgasm at once, and that would at best have gotten it up to my 'maybe on Netflix' list. And maybe earned a gift basket for the people who had to clean up the theater after.

 

[conmag9]

I actually saw this atrocity. Ask me anything!

Went with a bunch of friends who got hammered before the movie started and we had a blast. Incredibly mediocre action movie. Kind of like a modern day Scorpion King.

We laughed several times during the movie, but Gerard Butlers abrupt "GAAAAAAAH" halfway through stole the show. That hilarious delivery broke me.

What quote, taken out of context, sounds the stupidest? Don't ask me why I want to know, it's for Science!

I have a bit of sympathy here, given that I can understand being concerned about people pre-judging a film based on what they heard, and if that happens enough (easy in this day and age) it's poisoned the well...but I don't think a return rate THAT horrible can be adequately explained by merely bad press. Film bombs that bad? You have to accept some responsibility there, I think.