Just when we thought Mel Gibson, hoping for redemption, was on his best behavior at the Venice Film Festival... The director was humbled after receiving tons of praise during the Hacksaw Ridge premiere at the event. He however had no problem calling out Warner Bros by labeling Batman v Superman a "piece of shit." Don't sugarcoat it Mel, let us know how you really feel.
Mel Gibson Makes Fun of Superhero Budgets
If there is one thing Mel Gibson isn't, it's boring. The director had a long discussion with Deadline about what he spends on a movie and it led to some pretty interesting revelations and criticisms. But, before we get to his negative comments, we can't help but be further impressed by his directing chops. During the interview, Gibson explains that he produced Hacksaw Ridge at a cost of $27 million. This is almost one-third the cost of Saving Private Ryan and a fraction of any of today's superhero films.
Filmed in New South Wales. Screen Australia and all that stuff. The exchange rate for the U.S. dollar was good at the time, and I think we locked in at about 72 cents on the dollar and took a $27 million budget and turned it into a $40 million budget. It was a completely Australian film, all the players were Aussies except Andrew and Vince Vaughn. So the whole production is an Aussie film, but a very American story, which is kind of unusual.
That is efficient spending. Maybe Gibson should take a crack at the Federal Debt. But I digress... The conversation quickly led to discussions of superhero budgets. Considering that a $200 million budget is the new norm, Gibson can't help but be complexed by where the money goes.
"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."
Gibson Rips on BvS Spending
With talks of studio spending, the conversation quickly spiraled to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice League. After hearing how much the film cost before marketing, Gibson couldn't contain his inner critic.
DEADLINE: I want to say $250 million. Then you've got marketing.
GIBSON: And it's a piece of sh*t... 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.
Deadline could have had some fun and request that the director further dissect BvS, but they instead kept the conversation er, professional.
Missed opportunity...
What do you think? Does Mel have a point?
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