Ben Affleck Says Last Duel Is Different To Previous Box Office Bombs
Ben Affleck reacts to Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel bombing at the box office and shares his thoughts on why the historical epic underperformed.
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Ben Affleck reacts to Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel bombing at the box office and shares his thoughts on why the historical epic underperformed. The film is based on the 2004 novel of the same name from Eric Jager centered around Jean de Carrouges, a knight in medieval France who challenges his former friend and squire Jacques Le Gris to a judicial duel after his wife accuses Jacques of raping her. The story of the film is told through the perspectives of the three characters leading up to the titular battle between Jean and Jacques.
Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer led the cast of The Last Duel alongside Damon, Harriet Walter, Alex Lawther, Serena Kennedy, Marton Csokas, Tallulah Haddon and Željko Ivanek. The historical epic marked the first proper reunion between Damon and Affleck in over 20 years, with the duo not only working as co-stars but also co-writing the screenplay for the film with Nicole Holofcener. Following delays from the global pandemic, The Last Duel finally hit theaters this past October to rave reviews from critics, though suffered a worse fate at the box office.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter for the film, Affleck opened up about his reaction to The Last Duel bombing at the box office. The star reflected on having other movies that suffered similar fates, regardless of their quality, but found a different element to be the cause of the problem than Scott. See what Affleck said below:
“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 that and why it happened. The movie is shit, people don’t want to see it, right? This movie, The Last Duel, I really 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 Last Duel bombing at the box office came as somewhat of a surprise in Hollywood, with it initially eyeing a $10 million gross in its opening weekend, a modest sum when put up against its competition of No Time to Die. Ultimately, the film would only bring in $4.8 million domestically in its opening weekend and barely clear those original projections during its entire domestic run, departing theaters with just over $30 million made against its $100 million budget. Numerous factors have been cited as working against the film’s release, including the lack of its key demographic returning to theaters amidst the pandemic and its longer runtime leading to fewer showtimes, though Scott has solely squared the blame at millennials, who he believes weren’t ready to engage with such material if it wasn’t on their cell phones.
Affleck’s reaction to The Last Duel bombing at the box office is certainly a more humble one, attributing it to an overall shift in the industry and audience’s desires more than anything else. Should the film had hit theaters outside of the pandemic, it certainly would’ve fit a better release model for it to be a success in comparison to the time in which studios were taking to hybrid release models for even their biggest of tentpoles such as Disney’s Jungle Cruise or Warner Bros.’ The Matrix Resurrections and remaining cautious about releasing more niche titles as Scott’s film. Affleck’s note of The Last Duel playing well on streaming is also an accurate note as the film has sat in the top 10 charts on digital platforms for the past two weeks.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/last-duel-box-office-bomb-ben-affleck-response/