Lionsgate Films has had its share of hits, such as The Hunger Games trilogy, but also some flops, such as the latest release, Gods of Egypt.
According to reports, the film cost about $140 million to make, but when debuting in domestic theaters, it only made about $14 million. The film has also debuted in some international theaters, but even with this, the film has only grossed about $24 million, a far cry from the $140 million put into it.
Before the film was even released on February 26, there were already rumblings of issues. First, this is a movie about Egypt and there are no Egyptian actors playing any of the major roles in the film. This was brought up early in the game thanks to an Associated Press report, and it came at a time where reports of “white washing” Hollywood has been in the forefront of industry. This certainly played a role in the disappointing outcome of the film. Though Alex Proyas, the director of the film, issued an apology, movie-goers did not seem to be too keen to accept it based on opening numbers.
The other influence on the “floppiness” of this film is the straight fact that critics simply didn’t like it. This did not sit well with Proyas, and after these reviews started coming in, he took to Facebook in a childish, haphazard way. He called the critics “deranged idiots” and claimed that they based reviews on “the status quo.”
Proyas doesn’t even have audiences to fall back on. According to RottenTomatoes.com, Gods of Eqypt has only received a 12% on the famed Tomatometer. When you add that to the critics score, there has to be more to it than the lack of diversity, but it surely didn’t help. Perhaps in this case, karma has served its wrath and Proyas will take a different attitude in the future.
What do you think, PopWrappers? Have you seen Gods of Egypt? Will you?