A 2016fantasy moviefaced a massive backlash over its production, prompting both the studio and director to apologize. By 2016, director Alex Proyas hadimpressed critics with films likeThe Crow, Dark City,andI, Robot.After a disappointing disaster movie inKnowing,he needed a strong comeback.
Alex Proyas' next projectwas a fantasy movie with huge potential, butit ultimately became a critical and commercial flopdue to both behind-the-scenes and story problems. The behind-the-scenes controversy was so bad that it forced both Lionsgate and Proyas to offer apologies before the film ever came out in theaters.
Lionsgate Was Forced To Apologize Over Gods Of Egypt’s Lack Of Diverse Casting
WhenGods of Egyptcame out, critics and fans were not talking about the movie’s story. Most people looked attheGods of Egyptcasting controversy. The discussion centered on how the movie, about gods in Egypt, had an almost predominantly white cast.There were a few Black stars, like Chadwick Boseman,but too many were white.
Gerard Butler (Scottish) was in the lead role as Set. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Danish) played Horus, and Brenton Thwaites (Australian) took on the role of Bek. All three men were white and from European countries, all playing characters with Ancient Egyptian roots. This did not go over well with the audience.
Alex Proyas and Lionsgate both released statements, whichForbesshared, apologizing for theGods of Egyptcasting.Proyas explained that casting a big-budget movie is complicated, but said, “it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse.” Lionsgate Entertainment followed up:
“We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize.”
This does differ from past controversies.Ridley Scott saidthat he couldn’t get funding for a movie likeExoduswithout casting big-name stars, which forces a compromise, or the film won’t get made. Joe Wright claimed he had an otherwise diverse cast when explaining Rooney Mara playing Tiger Lili inPan.
Gods Of Egypt’s Failure Went Way Beyond Its Casting Controversy
While the casting hurt the critical and commercial success ofGods of Egypt,it wasn’t the only reason the movie failed. According toThe Hollywood Reporter,the film lost almost $90 million for Lionsgate, and it has a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score. It isn’t just critics, as the audience score is also a very low 37%.
In the end, the storyline hurt the film, barely better than the disappointingWrath of the Titans, but a hugely disappointing entry into the sword-and-sandals genre. It earned five Razzie nominations, including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Alex Proyas went on to blame critics for poor reviews hurting the film’s success.
Gods of Egyptwas pretty accurate when it comes to the gods themselves, but it wasn’t enough to make up for a story that was seemingly meant to kickstart a franchise. With its failure, nothing came from the ending, and the film died a terrible death. At least the studio and director did apologize for the whitewashing, albeit to little success.
