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Stone blames failure of 'Alexander' on 'fundamentalism' (It's not my fault)
Stone blames failure of 'Alexander' on 'fundamentalism'
Last Updated Thu, 06 Jan 2005 17:40:22 EST
CBC Arts
LONDON - Often-controversial director Oliver Stone has blamed the failure of his epic film Alexander on the "raging fundamentalism" in the U.S. South.
The film, which stars Irish actor Colin Farrell in the story of the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, was greeted with derisive reviews.
Colin Farrell plays the title role in 'Alexander.' (AP photo)
It was also a failure at the box office. Budgeted at roughly $150 million U.S., it has pulled in only $34 million so far.
"I was quite taken aback by the controversy and fierceness of the reviews about a character we don't really know too much about," Stone said before the film's British premiere on Wednesday.
"I operate on my passion and sometimes I'm naive. I don't think about the consequences."
Some conservative groups objected to Alexander's portrayal of the famous warrior as a bisexual.
Stone, the director behind such controversial pictures as Natural Born Killers and JFK, believes the hostile reaction to the film is linked to "a raging fundamentalism in morality in the U.S."
"From day one, audiences didn't show up," he said. "They didn't even read the reviews in the South because the media was using the words 'Alex the gay.' As a result, you can bet that they thought, 'We're not going to see a film about a military leader that has got something wrong with him.'"
Adding that the film is "the epic of my life," Stone says he thought Farrell's acting was "extraordinary."
"He's had some tough reviews but he'll ride it out," the director said.
For his part, Farrell said that friends of his who have seen the film tell him "It's not exactly Gladiator."
However, he said he would work with Stone again "in a heartbeat."
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