The Last Duel may have been a critical success, but it was a box office failure. Now, director Ridley Scott thinks he knows why.
During an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Sir Ridley Scott complained that The Last Duel’s box office calamity was all down to millennials.
“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.”
“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” he explained. “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
The Last Duel has earned just $27 million worldwide after its debut last month. Starring Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, and Adam Driver, the film delivered staggering combat as well as poignant social commentary. But The Last Duel has so far failed to capture the imagination of audiences, as well as failing to recoup its $100 million budget.
Although Scott was originally concerned that Disney would undersell his historical epic, that turned out not to be the case.
“Disney did a fantastic promotion job,” he admitted. “The bosses loved the movie… I was concerned it was not for them.”
Despite this, The Last Duel still performed abysmally at the box office. But Scott stands by the movie, and states that the studio’s decisions were sound from start to finish.
“That’s the call you make,” he said about taking on the project. “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 regret on any movie I’ve ever made. Nothing. I learned very early on to be your own critic. The only thing you should really have an opinion on is what you just did. Walk away. Make sure you’re happy. And don’t look back. That’s me.”
IGN’s own review said The Last Duel is “a grueling watch and certainly not for the faint-hearted. However, it rewards you with social commentary that’s as relevant today as in 14th century France… The Last Duel offers several bloody, brutal battle scenes and a fierce final duel that’s up there among director Ridley Scott’s finest fight scenes.”
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.