After receiving a standing ovation at the end of the premiere of his new film, ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ at the Venice Film Festival, Mel Gibson sat down with Deadline to discuss the film, the future, and the current state of Hollywood movies. For a man who made his name in cinema doing ridiculous action movies, it seems that Gibson has come a long way, and considers himself a real auteur new. And he does not quite understand why superhero films are doing as well as they are, or why they are costing studios so much money. In his words:
“I look at them and scratch my head. I’m really baffled by it. I think there’s a lot of waste but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens I’d find out different. I don’t know. Maybe they do cost that much. I don’t know. It seems to me that you could do it for less. If you’re spending outrageous amounts of money, $180 million or more, I don’t know how you make it back after the tax man gets you, and after you give half to the exhibitors…What did they spend on ‘Batman v Superman’ that they’re admitting to? And it’s a piece of shit.”
It’s not often that I feel comfortable saying this, but I agree with Gibson about ‘Batman V Superman,’ it definitely was not worth the money they dumped into it. And of course, Gibson can say whatever he wants about the genre, as apparently, he has absolutely no desire to be a part of one, choosing instead to stick to his directing career, and movies that mean something to him personally.
“I’m not interested in the stuff. Do you know what the difference between real superheroes and comic book superheroes is? Real superheroes didn’t wear spandex. So I don’t know. Spandex must cost a lot.”
Are you happy not to have Gibson associated with superhero movies? Do you think he has grown out of touch as he has grown older? Share your opinions on the matter in the comments below! Also, check out the trailer for his new movie, ‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ which looks like it might be checking out when it comes out this fall.
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.
