It would be safe to assume that watching the first trailer for the upcoming Gods of Egypt, most people had the exact same thought: 'what on earth was that?!?'. Coming across like the bastard child of Jupiter Ascending and Clash of the Titans (which definitely isn't a good thing), the movie seems to have 'box office bomb' written all over it. In the wake of the confused and negative reactions that greeted the first footage, a second trailer was released just a couple of weeks later, somewhat toning down the more fantastical elements even though most people that paid attention to the second trailer had already seen the first one. Then, in an almost unprecedented move, the director and studio issued a public apology for the lack of racial diversity amongst the cast following accusations of white-washing a tale set in an admittedly-alternative ancient Egypt. So far, so bad. Labeling Proyas as a 'visionary' filmmaker seems like a bit of a stretch given that its been 22 years since The Crow and his last movie was the critically-derided Nicolas Cage flick Knowing, while a cast lacking in star power is hardly going to entice skeptical viewers to part with their cash. A release date in the wasteland of late-February seems like an acknowledgement of defeat from Lionsgate, who probably won't mind too much after tax incentives from shooting in Australia and foreign pre-sales covered most of their investment on Gods of Egypt's $140m budget.
I don't do social media, so like or follow me in person but please maintain a safe distance or the authorities will be notified. Don't snap me though, I'll probably break. I was once labelled a misogynist on this very site in a twenty paragraph-long rant for daring to speak ill of the Twilight franchise. I stand by what I said, it's crap.
