10 Filmmakers Who Blamed Audiences For Movie Failures

As a director, Sam Mendes is no stranger to the big budget blockbuster side of Hollywood. The man brought both Skyfall and Spectre to screens in 2012 and 2015, respectively, as well as the exceptional 1917 in 2019.

In 2022 however, he saw a different side to the cinematic industry that he didn't like. This was with Empire of Light, a much smaller budgeted movie than his previous megahits that only brought in $10 million at the box office.

Off the back of this disappointment, Mendes announced that cinema was dying. Comparing his outing to the likes of The Fablemans, Babylon, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, the director blamed audiences for waiting to see movies on home release instead of going out into the cinemas.

While this is absolutely something that has been plaguing the industry for years, and looks to continue doing so for some time, Empire of Light currently sits at a Rotten score of just 45%. Yes, it's understandable to be frustrated with the current video-on-demand climate, but it seems more likely in this particular instance that audiences just didn't like Sam Mendes' most recent offering.