10 Filmmakers Who Blamed Audiences For Movie Failures

In the face of such a big disappointment as a movie falling way under expectations at the box office, there are several ways to react. Accept the situation with quiet dignity, shamelessly blame the audience it was made for instead of admitting fault with the final cut itself, or attack the stereotype of an entire generation.

When The Last Duel released in 2021 to become one of the biggest commercial flops of the year - making just $27 million against a budget of $100 million - director Ridley Scott took aim at Millennials and swung for the fences.

The legendary director isn't necessarily used to such a scenario, and he showed as much in his response. Casting an incredibly wide generalisation, Scott blamed his failure on Millennials and "their f**king cell phones". Of course, this generation has been brought up with technology that wasn't available in years gone by, but is it really fair to blame The Last Duel's failure solely on such a thing?

What about the fact that the movie released during the height of the worldwide pandemic in 2021? Or that just 45 days after its theatrical release, it was available on Disney+? Blaming nothing but mobile phones and Facebook feels like a lazy and bitter response.