Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s friendship is one of the most widely known bromances in Hollywood. The duo has collaborated on tons of projects since their earliest days and have always spoken highly about each other. Two of the most notable projects of the duo are Good Will Hunting and The Last Duel. But while the former achieved immense heights of success, the latter turned out to be an immense commercial failure.
Although The Last Duel has got the stain of becoming a huge box office disaster, the Ridley Scott directorial achieved great success afterward. It is still talked about today and when Ben Affleck was asked about his perspective on the movie, he was anything but negative.
Ben Affleck’s statement on The Last Duel’s failure
Good Will Hunting was jointly written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and also starred them in lead roles alongside Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård. The movie was a huge success earning a mammoth $225.9 million against a budget of a mere $10 million. The Gus Van Sant directorial was also critically acclaimed and won awards like the Oscars and Golden Globe.
But sadly the duo couldn’t replicate that success with the 2021 Ridley Scott directorial The Last Duel. The movie was a huge box-office failure and earned only $30.6 million against a huge $100 million budget. Quite interestingly, the story doesn’t end here as the movie was critically acclaimed and generated amazing numbers in his post-theater life. The movie garnered some adorable numbers on video-on-demand and iTunes.
When Ben Affleck was asked in an interview about his views on the movie, the Batman star revealed that he has no regret doing that movie. Affleck explained that in recent times, only event movies work well in the theaters as a result of which, the movie couldn’t garner numbers. But the Argo star made it clear that he is proud of what they made.
“The Last Duel really clinched it for me. I’ve had bad movies that didn’t work and I didn’t blink. I know why people didn’t go — because they weren’t good. But I liked what we did. I like what we had to say. I’m really proud of it. So I was really confused. And then to see that it did well on streaming, I thought, “Well, there you go. That’s where the audience is.””
Although Ben Affleck is not quite wrong, some other factors also came into play for the failure of the movie. While it was just released after the pandemic, the movie also faced tough competition from some big franchise projects such as Haloween Kills and No Time to Die.
What was Ridley Scott’s opinion on The Last Duel?
Besides having a stellar cast consisting of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, The Last Duel also had one of the best directors in Hollywood- Ridley Scott. Helming some of the most iconic projects such as Alien, Gladiator, and Blade Runner, Scott is renowned for his works in sci-fi and historical projects. Even though the director had to say something more about the movie’s failure, he also had no regret doing that movie.
Also Read: Gladiator 2 Reportedly in the Works as Ridley Scott Set to Milk Hollywood Nostalgia With Big Actors
According to Scott, the latest generation’s addiction to cell phones are to be blamed for the movie’s failure. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he spoke:
“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these f***ing cellphones. The millennial [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. This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
But on the other hand, the House of Gucci director also reflected Ben Affleck’s viewpoint and openly stated that he has no reason to regret doing that movie- “We all thought it was a terrific script. And we made it. You can’t win all the time”. Ridley Scott also added that he doesn’t regret a single movie he did as he follows the principle of being his own critic and being happy with what he did. He never looks back and that’s what helps him to move on in life.
The Last Duel can be bought or rented in Vudu and Google Play.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
