Director Roland Emmerich, whose new disaster epic Moonfall has proven to be a box office dud, doubled down on recent comments he made about superhero movies ruining the film industry.
In an interview with Discussing Film, Emmerich was asked his feelings on releasing a big-budget non IP-driven movie in theaters during a time when such projects have struggled to find audiences. “Well, it gets harder and harder,” he said. “I’m really not very happy about that. How many superhero movies can you make? They’re making like, 7 or 8 Spider-Man [films]? It’s just very boring for me, as a filmmaker. You don’t want to keep making the same movies over and over.”
Emmerich’s comments come shortly after he said in a recent interview that Marvel, DC Comics and the Star Wars franchise are “ruining our industry a little bit, because nobody does anything original anymore.” The director, whose filmography includes Stargate, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, added that he’s “never found any interest” in comic book adaptations.
Emmerich’s disdain for superhero movies dates back several years, with the filmmaker saying in 2016, “When you look at my movies it’s always the regular Joe Schmo that’s the unlikely hero. A lot of Marvel movies, they show people in funny suits running around. I don’t like people in capes. I find it silly when someone dons a superhero suit and flies. I don’t understand it.”
Moonfall, starring Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson as two astronauts who must prevent the end of the world when the moon is sent on a collision course with Earth, bombed at the box office on its opening weekend — earning less than $10 million domestically against a budget of roughly $140 million.
Emmerich’s latest foray into the disaster genre is seeing a steep drop in its sophomore frame, with Moonfall estimated to gross just $2.7M in its second weekend in theaters. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to smash box office records. As of this writing, the Marvel blockbuster stands as the sixth highest-grossing film in history with more than $1.7 billion worldwide.
Emmerich isn’t the only filmmaker with a recent box office misfire who’s used the term “boring” to describe superhero movies. Following the release of 2021’s The Last Duel, an adult-driven medieval drama that tanked theatrically, director Ridley Scott used the phrase “fucking boring as shit” when asked his thoughts on the genre.
Source: Discussing Film
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